The Quill's Notebook
by The Quill of Gryffindor
Summary: Hello readers, I, the Quill of Gryffindor, hereby invite you to have a look at some of the random stories and fragments which are contained within my notebook. Some of these are small oneshots with a possible plot, while others are just segments. I am putting a high rating on this, just so I'm covered and can post anything on this. Please read and most importantly, enjoy!
1. Chapter 1

**The Quill's Note Book**

Greetings my faithful readers!

Now, before we begin, I should point out that none of these are part of a bigger story. They may become part of one of my current ones at some point, but they were not written with the intent to be a part of them. These are just some of the fragments of stories my mind produces. I may be sitting watching tv, or playing on my xbox, doing my university work, or reading some fanfiction when an idea 'pops' into my head. I then rush to the computer and jot it down.

I have decided, since my mind hasn't been very productive of late, that I would post some of these stories. I have been meaning to do it for a while, but I have been quite busy! So, that's what these stories are - small segments which I haven't made into a bigger story.

I hope you enjoy reading them! All they've been doing is taking up space and gathering dust!

I give you my first segment: Dictatorship!

* * *

**C****hapter One: Dictatorship**

It was a delightfully overcast day, considering what was about to happen in the next few minutes. The sky was a mixture of black grey, which swirled as the wind made its presence known, whistling across the small, wooden buildings, and urging a small shop sign to swing in the breeze, with a metallic squeak.

A large crowd of people gathered in the cold, damp cobbled streets of Diagon Alley to witness something which hadn't been seen in the magical world for over two hundred years…a hanging.

The dark brown wooden gallows creaked ominously as if it objected to what was about to come. The people knew who was going to die…and they hated it. As if sensing the mood of the gathering, rain began to fall from the clouds, making them even more cold and miserable.

The man who was going to die was a hero in the majority of the public's eyes; someone who had never stopped fighting for them even in the most dire of times. However, his work was soon to come to an abrupt end at the bottom of a short rope.

In the street around them, stood over a hundred members of the Ministry's private army; the Special Auror division. Dressed all in black combat gear, inspired by the muggle special forces, each one of them was a grizzled killer…fiercely loyal to the government.

Ever since the fall of He Who Must Not Be Named, the magical government, the Ministry of Magic, had been turned into a dictatorship, ruled by the Council of Five. Since the government had fallen during the Second Blood War, it had to be completely reorganised.

Originally, the council had been given control in order to 'stabilise the country'. The council would basically rule over Magical Britain until the crisis had been resolved. The people thought they had their best interests at heart.

At first, no one complained; the council had gotten the job done and the country was quickly back on its feet. But soon, they began making subtle changes to British magical policy until finally, they permanently seized control of the government. The Wizengamot was disbanded and the SA appeared on the streets.

Now, the land was in a perpetual state of martial law, under a tyrannical dictatorship which oppressed everyone, especially the "half-breeds" and "mudbloods". There were curfews which required everyone to be indoors by nine; there was a ration on products, despite there not being any shortages; and any crime, no matter how minor, meant you were sent to Azkaban to await trial.

The government that was created to help repair the damage caused by Voldemort's tyranny, had become as bad, if not worse as its predecessor.

The heads of the people gathered shot up as they saw a flash of blue light, further down the street. As they watched, a team of twelve SAs marched to the gallows, a man walking in-between them. Reaching the frame, ten of them splintered off, the other two staying with the prisoner, who the people could finally see clearly.

A tall man, with raven black hair and emerald green eyes stood on the platform, a look of fierce determination etched on his face. His body was held up high and confident, despite the large number of bruises and cuts on his face, apparently from his captors. He wore a set of smart black robes, with a matching shirt and a pair of black oxfords. He had a magical suppression bracelet on his ankle and had his hands tied behind his back.

While they were watching their hero, who stood defiantly awaiting his end, a small, sinister, reedy looking man stepped up to the platform, held out a scroll and touched his throat with his wand, casting a _sonorous_.

"_Attention All; under the ruling of our great leaders, the wizard known as Harry James Potter, for the crimes of treason, murder, attempted murder, theft, and assault, has been sentenced to be hung by the neck until dead._" He boomed.

The two SAs dragged him to stand by the noose, over a trapdoor. As they held him tight, the small man walked over and sneered at him.

"Do you have any last words, _Potter_?" The man spat. The wizard's eyes flicked open and he nodded. Casting the same spell on his throat, he smiled at the people's sad, distraught and horrified faces.

"Do not fear. I do not represent the end, but the beginning. This is the day our campaign will truly begin. One day, we will be victorious. I am saddened that I will not live to see it, but I know that day will come." He said passionately.

The people listened, tears running down their cheeks, proud smiles on their faces. As he finished, they all shared his determined expression. The wizard smiled. The fight would not end with him. With a final grin, he yelled loudly, his voice echoing down the street.

"FREEDOM!" He cried.

The people cheered and shouted as his head was covered with a black sack and the noose placed around his neck. The crowd fell deathly quiet as the small, reedy wizard walked over to a lever at one side of the platform and gripped it tightly.

There was a pause. Just as the executioner was about to pull the switch, a green flash burst from the crowd and struck him in the chest. His eyes open in shock, he fell off the scaffold and hit the cobbles, dead.

The street erupted into chaos. A group of witches and wizards, who had been hidden amongst the crowd, threw off their cloaks and began casting at the SA, who responded with equal vigour. The majority of the crowd scattered, although there were some who stayed to fight.

Two of the fighters climbed up onto the platform and pulled the noose and bag from around the wizard's neck. He scrunched up his eyes, momentarily blinded by daylight, before shaking his head and grinning at his rescuers.

"Hermione, I thought I said _not _to rescue me?" He said with a look of mock disapproval, to which she pouted before scoffing.

"Did you really think we would just let them execute you?" She asked incredulously. He laughed and shook his head.

"Nah, I knew you'd come for me!" He replied with a wink. With a flick of her wand, the bracelet on his ankle disintegrated with a hiss. She offered him his wand, which he took gratefully, before turning to face the ensuing battle.

"Should we continue to fight or evacuate, Harry?" She asked throwing some spells at the SA soldiers. His face became serious.

"Well, your objective had been completed and SA reinforcements will be here soon, so I think we should get the hell out of here and re-group." He answered, his voice like that of a general commanding his troops.

She nodded and pressed her wand to a tattoo of a phoenix on the inside of her arm. The fighters, feeling their tattoos signal a retreat, pressed a medallion around their necks and vanished with a quiet 'pop'.

Just before he and Hermione too retreated, he pointed his wand at the sky and grinned manically. Without saying an incantation, a bright gold light shot into the grey sky and punched through the clouds. With a trill of bird song, the spell scattered the haze, revealing a bright blue sky and an emblem.

A bright red phoenix, flying in front of a sun rise.

With that, they vanished. The street was left deserted, bar the shocked SA soldiers, who began gathering up their wounded comrades and securing the area. The people, who had scattered as the fighting began, felt a warm feeling deep in their hearts.

Harry Potter was still alive.

* * *

There we are! I was actually reading about various communist states for my university course when I thought of this. I do like this chapter and one day it might become a fully fledged story, but not today and not for a while. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed it! Please, feel free to read on!

**This is the Quill, signing off!**


	2. Chapter 2

**The Quill's Note Book**

Hello my faithful readers!

Now, this chapter is a story by itself. It doesn't resolve at the end, leaving it open for further writing, but it is a nice chunk of story. As you may know from my other stories, I have a bit of a thing for time travel...I'm a huge fan of Doctor Who, The Time Machine, Back To The Future etc. Anyway, this is another of my time travel related stories!

I hope you enjoy: Future Gone Wrong...

* * *

**C****hapter One: Future Gone Wrong…**

Harry lay slumped against the cold marble walls in the Department of Mysteries. His body was bleeding profusely and his wand arm was broken. Holding his battered holly and phoenix feather wand in his good hand, he performed some rudimentary healing charms to stem the bleeding. He knew it wouldn't last long; he was dying.

He had been tricked – tricked by Voldemort into coming here tonight, all for the sake of some stupid prophecy. More than that he had dragged along his friends to a battle that wasn't theirs, and now they were all dead. Ron, Luna, Ginny, Neville…Hermione. They had all been killed off. He was now alone. The Death Eaters would find him soon enough and then it would be over. He wished he had never come to the ministry. Sirius wasn't even here.

As tears poured down his bleeding and bruised face, he looked around the room he was in. The lights were off and there was an eerie green glow which disturbed him immensely. As his eyes scanned the room, he saw the limp form of Vincent Crabbe senior, still with the bell jar on his head forcing it to age rapidly and then reverse itself.

It was then he had an idea. Looking around frantically, he spotted the destroyed cabinet standing in the corner. 'There must be one functioning one left.' He thought. He dragged his weak body over to the pile of wood and twisted metal that was the cabinet and rooted through the detritus. After a brief moment of searching he found his target – a small silver pendant on a chain – a time-turner. After some more searching he found another. 'Two is better than one.' He thought, placing the spare into his robes.

He began to limp carefully to the main entrance, making sure to avoid any Death Eaters still in the ministry. As he reached one of the fireplaces, he heard a shout from behind.

"Hey look, over 'ere, it's Potter – he's trying to escape!"

Grabbing some floo powder he tossed it into the flames and made his escape. He watched as spells shoot toward him. He grinned as he disappeared, missing the spells. After a few minutes, he tumbled out of Dolores Umbridge's fire place groaning as he hit his painful shoulder. Pulling himself to his feet, he made his way to the classroom he and his friends had spoken in before leaving for the headmistress' office. He needed to stop them going to the ministry and getting his friends all killed.

As he finally arrived at the classroom, he was relieved to find it uninhabited. Closing the door behind him, he sealed it with a _Colloportus_ charm and slumped down onto one of the chairs. He had stopped his wounds from bleeding as much as they were, but they were still seeping and he felt himself growing weaker. Putting the time-turner around his neck he gave it several spins, hopefully sending him back before they left this room.

As the device began to spin and give off light, he crossed his fingers and prayed. With a flash, he was gone and the room was silent once more.

* * *

"Voldemort's got Sirius." Harry said simply.

"_What_?" Hermione gasped.

"How d'you –?" Ron was cut off by Harry talking nervously.

"Saw it. Just now. When I fell asleep in the exam."

"But – but where? How?" Hermione was clearly nervous.

"I dunno how. But I know exactly where. There's a room in the Department of Mysteries full of shelves covered in these little glass balls and they're at the end of row ninety-seven…he's trying to use Sirius to get whatever it is he wants from in there…he's torturing him…says he'll end by killing him!" There was a brief pause as both Ron and Hermione looked nervously at him.

"How're we going to get there?" Harry continued.

"You aren't." All three of the students in the room turned around and pointed their wands at the newcomer. They all gasped when they saw who it was. In the room was a doppelgänger of Harry, except this one was extremely bloody and pale.

"H-harry?" Hermione began quietly. Ron looked baffled, staring between the two.

"Mate, there are two of you." Ron said, once again stating the obvious. At this point, Harry was the most shocked. Keeping his wand trained on the newcomer, he narrowed his eyes.

"Who are you?" He said simply. The second Harry simply smiled and moved to stand, but winced as the wounds on his body objected to the attempt.

"To put it simply – I'm you Harry from exactly seven o'clock tomorrow." Hermione gasped, Ron was still baffled and Harry still wasn't sure.

"If you are me, tell me something only I would know." He replied. Again, the second Harry smiled which devolved into a smirk.

"Alright, I can do that." He looked at Hermione. "I know for a fact there is something you want to tell Hermione and you are waiting because you are nervous." Harry paled and dropped his wand from the second Harry's chest. Hermione looked curiously at Harry before he spoke.

"Ok, it's really him." Harry's twin smiled before coughing violently, groaning in pain. The original Harry still wasn't sure and began to question him. "What are you doing here? How did you get here?" Harry asked. His twin's eyes darkened and he began to cry.

"I…I suggest you send out Ron and Hermione until we've spoken." He said. "It will then be your choice to tell them or not." Harry thought for a moment before looking at the two. Ron was reluctant, but Hermione merely smiled at Harry and dragged him out after her. As soon as the door was closed, Harry replaced the silencing charms.

"Ok, it's just us. Now tell me, why are you here?" His twin grimaced as a shot of pain coursed through his battered frame.

"Like I said, I come from seven o'clock tomorrow morning – _after_ we've been to the Department of Mysteries." Harry looked shocked.

"Harry, the ministry was a trap for you. Sirius isn't there. Voldemort tricked you into coming to retrieve a prophecy for him." Twin-Harry began to cry. "They all died Harry – Ron, Luna, Neville, Ginny…Hermione." Harry gasped.

"It was a bad call. You – we, have been so angry this year and pushed everyone who cares for us away; why? Because no-one believed Voldemort was back?" Harry nodded and Twin-Harry continued.

"But _why_ were we so angry? Does it really matter? Sure the ministry is being a load of pricks, but is this really our fight? If the ministry doesn't act until it's too late then boo-hoo for them, but why should we risk ourselves to fight?" Harry looked ready to interrupt but was stopped.

"Just listen to me Harry. Can you honestly see a reason about fighting?" Harry thought for a moment, but shook his head. "Why can't we live a normal year for once without Riddle or the ministry? Why are we expected to fight every year?" Harry nodded and Twin-Harry smiled.

"Don't go to the ministry Harry. Go to the library and find a book on Occlumency – study and block out Voldemort. Trust me, Sirius is fine." Harry nodded and smiled.

"Oh, another thing: tell Hermione how you feel. Don't worry about her being mean about it or ruining your friendship – she's not the type of person to be mean about it." Harry nodded. "She has stood by you all this time and deserves to know – you don't know when she…when she will be gone." Twin-Harry began to cry. Harry nodded and finally began to speak.

"Thank you, thank you so much. Who knew all it took was myself to knock some sense into me. But _how_ did you come back?"

"I was badly injured and everyone was dead. I had resigned myself to death when I remembered a cabinet of time-turners which had been destroyed by a rogue spell. I moved over to them and found two working ones." He pulled one from his pocket and placed it on the table. "I made my way to the floo network and escaped the ministry before the Death Eaters killed me. I arrived back in Umbridge's office and made my way here. I used it to travel back to warn you." Harry nodded and looked pained, which his twin picked up on.

"Harry, don't feel guilty. It's not just our fault that happened; what about Dumbledore, avoiding us all year? We could have spoken to him about this. What about Snape? Before we left for the ministry, we gave him a warning about Sirius and where we thought he was. Why didn't he tell the order?" Harry looked thoughtful. "Taking full responsibility is pointless. Yes, we are to blame, but it is not solely our burden to bear." Harry nodded.

"I suggest you think things through more before charging into battle. Hermione tried to reason with me, but…I was so angry and scared for Sirius…I ignored her logic. I also forgot about the mirror he gave us." Harry blinked before shaking his head at his own stupidity. His twin grinned before clapping him on the shoulder. Harry smiled, but then gasped. Twin-Harry raised an eyebrow and looked at his hand which was becoming see-through.

"Don't worry, this is good. It means I succeeded; you don't go to the ministry, so I don't exist." He then snapped his fingers and cursed slightly. He conjured a vial and putting his wand to his head, withdrew a tendril of memory, placing it in a vial. Sealing it, he put it on the table next to the time-turner. "That is the memory of the incident if you want to see it yourself. Keep the time-turner; you may need it in the future." Harry nodded, but frowned when a thought crossed his mind.

"Wait, but won't the time-turner and the memory fade too?" Twin-Harry's eyes widened and they looked at the items on the table. They had not started to de-materialise like his doppelgänger had.

"Apparently not." He shrugged and grinned. "A bit of a paradox, but hey, what're gunna do?" Harry laughed. "I suggest you pick them up, though. Maybe contact with you will keep them here." Harry nodded and put on the necklace and put the vial in his pocket. Twin-Harry began to fade away but not before saying one last thing. "Don't forget what I said mate…especially about Hermione." He smiled, and then he was gone.

Undoing the charms on the room, he stepped out to find a smiling Hermione and an oblivious Ron. For the first time during the entire year, he felt calm and happy. Smiling at the pair, he gestured for them to walk.

"Hey guys, shall we go to the Great Hall?" They both looked surprised. His doppelgänger had obviously said something which had changed his entire mind-set. Hermione was nervous and spoke almost silently.

"Harry, are you alright?" He turned and smiled at her.

"I'm fine, thank you for asking. What 'my friend' said was a bit of a shock, but helped me see some things I hadn't before." Hermione nodded. She still looked uneasy, but Harry reassured her. "Don't worry, I'll tell you what he said – every little thing." She knew he was hinting at the 'thing he should tell Hermione' which his future self-had hinted at.

In response, she smiled and nodded. The trio then made their way to the Great Hall for dinner, forever changing the course of events.

* * *

Harry sat in the Gryffindor common room in his favourite armchair staring into the crackling flames of the fireplace. He glanced at a copy of the 'Daily Prophet' on a nearby table and read the headline again.

**He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named Returns!**

**Fudge announces "You-Know-Who's" re-appearance after Death Eaters Attack Ministry!**

**Public apologies made to Harry Potter and Albus Dumbledore**

He snorted at the last part. The ministry and the Prophet had started sucking up to him after they were proved wrong. Ignoring that train of thought, he began to think more about what his future-self had told him about the possible future if he went to the Department of Mysteries, his anger issues this year and his relationship with Hermione.

His anger had indeed become a major problem this year, becoming more out of control and vicious with every outburst. As he thought about it, he realised it was uncharacteristic of him, even without correspondence from his friends. Thinking there might be something majorly wrong with him, he had gone to speak to Madam Pomfrey.

_Flashback_

_Opening the door to the hospital wing, he stepped inside, looking around the empty ward. Since he did not see the nurse anywhere, he walked over to her office door and knocked. He heard a muffled, "Just a second" before the door swung open. She looked at him and sighed._

"_What is it this time Mr Potter?" She looked him over if searching for something. "I can't see anything wrong with you, are you injured?" He shook his head._

"_No ma'am, I'm not injured, but I…I think I have a problem and wanted to speak to you about it." She nurse's gaze softened and she nodded, allowing him access to her office._

_It was a small room, painted a fresh yellow colour with a wooden floor. The furniture was wooden also but made the room look homely. On the wall were various pictures and a framed certificate, which Harry assumed was in healing. Sitting down in a red chair behind her desk, she invited him to take the other opposite it._

"_So, Mr Potter, what is this problem you've been having?" She asked kindly. Harry took a deep breath before speaking._

"_It's my anger. It's gotten much worse than it used to be and I don't know why." He raked his hand through his hair. "This whole year I've just snapped at people, gotten in trouble with staff for my outbursts and have been a generally angry person." He took off his glasses and rubbed his eyes. "I honestly don't know why I've gotten so angry this term. I was wondering whether there might be something wrong with me."_

_Madam Pomfrey listened quietly to Harry's problem and began to list various illnesses or diseases in her mind which could cause such behaviour – there were not many. The only viable medical explanation she could come up with was that someone had cursed him with dark magic, which was affecting his emotions, making him more irritable and angry. Pulling out her wand, she began to perform some diagnostic spells on him. Looking at the results confirmed her theory._

"_Mr Potter, there is a reason for your anger issues but it is not your fault. Someone has put a curse on you with a serious progressive effect – the spell slowly eats away at the logical decision making areas of the brain, making the victim more impulsive and aggressive, ultimately leading up to insanity." Harry gasped and Madam Pomfrey made to reassure him. _

"_Do not worry Mr Potter; I can perform the counter curses. However, I suggest that we take you to St. Mungos for professional treatment." Harry nodded and the nurse floo'd the headmistress, Dolores Umbridge._

_After about five minutes the professor entered, looking scathingly at Harry. She then turned her attention to the nurse who explained the situation. Before the headmistress could speak, Harry decided to tell her something._

"_Professor, if I may, I'd like the chance to apologise." She looked quite shocked at the civility she was receiving and nodded for him to continue. "I've only just found out about the curse on me, but according to the nurse, it is extremely strong and has been affecting me since before the start of the school year. As such, much of my behaviour may have been down to the effect of the curses, so I apologise for making your stay here as headmistress…unpleasant." She looked at him, trying to see if he was lying. When she could see no dishonesty, she smiled at him._

"_Very well, Mr Potter, thank you for your apology. If the situation with this curse is as serious as Madam Pomfrey tells me, then I shall approve your treatment in St. Mungos." Harry smiled at her, and thanked her._

_Flashback End_

His stay in St. Mungos was short, only exceeding a few hours. The healers had performed the counter-curses and given him a series of potions to reverse any damages done to him. Harry's thoughts finally returned to the common room where he was sitting when a voice from behind disturbed him.

"Harry?" He turned around to see Hermione, still in her robes, standing in the dim light. He smiled at her. "Where have you been today Harry, I haven't seen you around since lunch." He sighed and invited her to sit down, which she did.

"Well, I decided to take your advice from a couple of weeks ago." She looked at him curiously. "I…I went to see Madam Pomfrey about my anger issues." She beamed at him and gave him a hug.

"That was brave of you Harry. It takes a lot to talk about personal problems with someone." He smiled at her. "So what did she tell you?" He raked his hand through his hair nervously, causing Hermione to raise an eyebrow.

"Apparently someone cast a curse on me – a very powerful curse." Hermione looked worried and he laughed. "Don't worry, it's gone now. The reason I haven't been around today is because I had to go to St. Mungos for treatment." She nodded.

"So what did the curse do exactly?"

"To put it simply, it began to eat away at the logical decision making part of my brain. The curse gradually makes the victim more impulsive and aggressive to those around them, eventually driving the person to insanity." She gasped and then frowned.

"I knew there had to be a reason for your anger – since we first met you have never been as angry as you have been this year." Harry nodded.

"Well, it doesn't matter now, I'm all better. I've got to take some potions today and tomorrow to repair the damage to my brain, but other than that, I'm fine and dandy." She smiled. "Oh yeah, I also apologised to Professor Umbridge." Hermione's mouth was agape making Harry laugh. She shook herself before speaking.

"You…you apologised to her?! Why…why on earth would you apologise to that…that monster?!" She shouted. Harry shrugged his shoulders.

"Hermione, much of my behaviour this year has been the direct result of a curse affecting my cognitive ability. By apologising to her, I have gotten myself off her bad side – she can't blame me for my behaviour because it was caused by a curse. Now I'll just keep my head down until the end of the year." Hermione nodded, before remembering something.

"Harry, can you tell me about your doppelgänger now?" He nodded and related to her everything (except the bits regarding a relationship between him and Hermione) that was said by his twin. He was unsure what her reaction would be to it and was worried he may lose her. Thankfully, she understood the situation completely.

"Well, I can't really blame you, even if I did die. You were under a curse making your thinking illogical, and worried about Sirius. I understand completely Harry." He smiled and hugged her tightly.

"Thank you. Just hearing you say that makes me feel a whole lot better." She smiled. "I think from now on I'll just listen to you and do what you say. You're the brilliant thinker of this group." She blushed. Hermione had one more question.

"Harry, what was that thing that your doppelgänger said you wanted to tell me?" Harry blushed making Hermione suspicious. He sighed and spoke.

"I may as well just come out with it." She raised an eyebrow at him. "Hermione, I care about you a lot." She nodded, not grasping the point. Harry sighed. "I mean more than a friend Hermione." She gasped and brought her hands to her mouth. She hadn't slapped him, shouted at him or left yet so he continued.

"Ever since second year I've cared for you deeply. When you got petrified, I was so depressed it nearly killed me. In my mind I didn't hear the bit about there being a cure, just seeing you there – unable to move." He began to cry. "I came to visit you every day, I made notes in all your classes and sat next to you and just chatted until the nurse kicked me out. I…I thought that if you could hear me, it may calm you down if you were panicking." She smiled at him. "When you walked into the hall the day you were cured I had to fight the urge to just kiss you on the spot I was so happy. My feelings have just increased since then."

"Why didn't you ever say anything?" She asked quietly. He raked his hand through his hair nervously.

"I was afraid you wouldn't feel the same way, that I would ruin our friendship. I decided I would rather just have you as a friend always rather than take a risk and chance losing it all." She nodded and smiled at him. All of a sudden she burst into laughter making Harry raise an eyebrow. She quickly explained.

"Don't worry Harry, I wasn't laughing at you – I was laughing because we have both been doing the same thing." He quirked an eyebrow. "I feel the same way Harry." A huge smile grew across his face, spurring her on. "I thought you may reject me or accuse me of just liking 'the boy who lived'." He nodded in understanding before smiling.

"Hermione, I would never reject you. Do you realise how amazing you truly are?" She went to object so Harry put a finger on her lips. "Actually, don't answer that. I know what you will say: 'I'm a bookworm' and such." She nodded sadly. "Hermione, I wouldn't have you any other way. You are perfection; smart, witty, brave, cautious, confident and then, of course, you are beautiful – together, you make a truly stunning individual." She smiled prettily at him.

Deciding to take a chance, Harry leant in and kissed her on the lips. As soon as they touched, both of them for the first time in their lives felt complete. They clicked together like a jigsaw puzzle, making the other whole. As they broke apart, both laughed breathlessly.

"Wow." The pair said together, causing another round of laughter. As it ended, Harry pulled Hermione into a warm hug. After a minute or two, she pulled away and looked at him.

"Harry, does this mean we are together?" She said softly. He smiled, leant forward and gave her another kiss.

"Only if that is what you want it to mean." She nodded and Harry grinned. "Well then, will you, Hermione Granger, consent to being my girlfriend?" She nodded enthusiastically and kissed him firmly on the lips.

"Yes, yes, yes!" She squealed making Harry laugh happily. The pair sat there together, Hermione lying with her head in his lap while he stroked her hair, for a few hours until they decided to go to bed. Parting with a kiss goodnight, Harry went up to his dorm and quietly got into bed. Just before he fell asleep, he looked out the window.

"Thank you Harry…" He said almost silently.

* * *

There we are! I hope you enjoyed that little nugget of story.

Now, I got the idea for this story when reading the fifth book again. I realised that while they were fighting, they completely neglected to pick up a time turner. If they had, they could have gone back and avoided the event in the first place. Then again, I'm not sure about the rules regarding time travel in Rowling's universe...no doubt she would say that going back was impossible, paradoxes and such...

Anyway, there will be other time travel related stories on the way! If you want to keep reading, then turn the next page and behold...another short story!

Farewell, dear reader!

**This is the Quill, signing off!**


	3. Chapter 3

**The Quill's Note Book**

Ah, here we are again, delving into the curious and disturbing place that is my notebook. Some of the stories in here are all fluffy and nice, but some are dark and a tinsy bit twisted...generally when I've been in a depressive mood. Anyway, this one is a recent creation and I couldn't think of a decent name. I did try to find a decent title, but nothing ever seemed right...so I left the title I had used originally in my notes.

Behold; the wonder that is: HHr Abuse

* * *

**Chapter One: HHr Abuse**

He spat out a mouthful of blood and sneered at the rabid man standing over him, his face dark purple, veins pulsing on his forehead.

"Ha! I think you're losing your touch _Uncle_." Vernon responded with a kick to the jaw, sending the kneeling Harry over backwards.

"Keep talking you _Freak_! I can keep this up all night!" Much to his chagrin, the boy pulled himself back up and continued to laugh at him.

"_Of course_ you can…" He responded, sarcasm dripping from every word "…last time you nearly had a heart attack from the strain, you fat, tub of lard. I can hold on much longer than you can." He snarled, picked the boy up by the neck, choking him slowly.

"Don't bet on it." He grinned evilly as Harry began to turn red without oxygen. "Where are your _freaky little friends _now, boy?" His nephew gritted his teeth, showing the blood staining them and spat the bloody contents into his face.

"Go to hell you piece of shit." Roaring in rage, he picked him up off his feet and threw him across the room.

As he flew into the opposite wall, Harry's head cracked against the fireplace, filling his mind with searing pain, before he blacked out.

* * *

Harry awoke with a jolt, hissing in pain as his wounds objected to the movement. He blinked groggily as he tried to clear the cobwebs from his mind. He was back in his room, lying on the old, broken bed and mattress that used to belong to his cousin Dudley.

He edged himself to his feet and opened up his school trunk. Holding his broken arm to his chest, he picked out the remains of an old school shirt and tied up the arm in a rudimentary sling. He looked forlornly at his wand, wishing he could heal his wounds properly; but he knew that if he even cast a _Scourgify_, there would be a letter heading to him from the ministry, stating that he had been expelled.

Digging around in the mess that was his trunk, he found what he was looking for: a non-descript brown, wooden box. Inside was a collection of various healing potions which he had made and bought while he had been in the wizarding world. Well versed in applying these now, he muttered to himself while cataloguing his injuries.

"Hmm, broken wrist, broken arm, three cracked ribs, broken nose; he must be losing his touch, he normally does much more damage." After feeling around a bit more, he brushed his neck and winced in pain. "Ah, broken collar bone; that's a new one! Ten points to Uncle Vernon!" He chuckled humourlessly.

After healing as much as he could of his injuries, he sat down on his bed stiffly, only to see a familiar snowy owl fly through the window and sit on her perch. He tried to smile at her, but was impeded by the pain that shot through his sore jaw. He held out his arm, inviting her to fly over, which she did.

"Hello beautiful; have you finished delivering those letters already?" Hedwig hooted softly before surveying his most recent injuries through her big, amber eyes. He grimaced and sighed, stroking her softly. "I know, I know. But what can I do? I've started learning how to defend myself physically, but he is just too big. He can throw his weight around." She hooted sadly and he smiled. "At least I've got you girl. I can always count on you." She hooted proudly and he chuckled.

Putting her back on the perch, he glanced over the letter, seeing it was the reply from Dumbledore. In the letter he had sent, he argued that if he had to be condemned to stay with his relatives, he should at least be kept up to date with information in regard to the Order and Voldemort's movements.

He opened it and read with a sense of resignation. He knew he would not find any new information from Dumbledore.

_Dear Harry,_

_I understand that you feel restricted in what you can commit to this war while staying at No 4 Privet Drive. However, you know full well that the protections there will keep you safe from Tom's minions._

_Furthermore, in response to your request to be kept informed, you must remember that any magical or muggle communication could be intercepted. That is why no pertinent information can be sent to you in that manner. You also suggested that Order members bring you the information first hand: this is equally risky. If we begin to send a regular messenger to you, they could be tracked, thus leading to the discovery of your location._

_Harry, I implore you to remain patient and wait until we can extract you and bring you to a safe location before September 1__st__. Do not make rash decisions against my words and the words of other Order members. Remember what happened to Sirius in the ministry._

_Sincerely_

_Albus Dumbledore._

Harry stared at the letter unblinkingly for a few minutes, before burning with an uncontrollable rage that coursed through his body. With a snarl, the parchment exploded into flame before fizzling out on the floor, blackened and charred. Throwing himself down at his writing desk, he grabbed a quill and a piece of spare parchment and began scribbling furiously.

_Headmaster Dumbledore,_

_I applaud you Professor, really I do. You have basically answered my letter by spouting the same nonsense you have been for several years. How is it you can produce such amazing bullshit on demand?_

_You dare, you _dare_, use Sirius as a reason against me? I may have been foolish and part of the fault rests with me, yes, but most, if not all, rests at the feet of you and Voldemort._

_You say you cannot have Order members being tracked? What about the guards surrounding Privet Drive? _Surely_ they can be seen heading to and fro as well?_

_I have had it with your rubbish. I wonder, headmaster, if you have ever heard the phrase 'you can lead a horse to water, but you can't make it drink'? In my case, I think it is an apt metaphor. You need me to destroy Voldemort and you have been grooming me into a weapon that will do so…_

_But what if I refuse? What if I say no? What will you do headmaster? What will you do?_

_I won't fight for you anymore. I won't fight for the light, for the 'good guys' or anyone! I will just stand at the side-lines; because I just don't care. I am done._

_Harry James Potter_

As he read it over, Hedwig fluttered over and sat on his shoulder. Harry stroked her feathers before tilting the parchment so she could see it.

"So Hedwig; what do you think?" Giving it a cursory read, she hooted her approval of the letter, which made Harry chuckle.

After getting Hedwig's seal of approval, he folded the parchment into an envelope and sealed it with some magical wax. Just as he was about to hand it to her to send the manipulative wizard, he noticed something small gliding through the window and come to rest on his bed.

Standing up, he saw that it was a paper airplane. Smiling in confusion, he picked it up and unfolded it, flattening it so he could read the message. Before he began reading, he noticed it was written in a familiar script.

"Hermione…I wonder why she is sending me a message in this way, not waiting for Hedwig?" he mused out loud.

Holding it out in front of him, his eyes scanned the page quickly before a number of emotions flashed across his face; fear, horror, sadness, anger, and finally, pure, unbridled fury. Throwing the letter to one side, he grabbed his small wooden box and disappeared with an almost silent 'pop'.

* * *

Hermione Granger lay curled up on her bed, crying softly into her chest after the beatings she had just received from her father and mother. She couldn't understand why everything was so unfair.

Her face was black and purple from where their fists had struck her and her lips were cracked and bleeding. Her ribs were hurting painfully, so much so she realised that some of them may have been broken under their abuse.

His parents hadn't always been violent. Before she went to Hogwarts, they were the most caring, loving people imaginable. They were always supportive and spent lots of time with their daughter, encouraging her inquisitive nature.

But when she received her Hogwarts letter and Professor McGonagall came to prove magic's existence, her parents had become distant, stoic…cold. She almost hadn't noticed, with the excitement of going to a magical school to learn lots of new things.

It was when she returned for Christmas in third year that she noticed the extent of the changes overcoming her parents. Initially, they just restricted any communication to the bare minimum. Then, they stopped talking entirely. Then, they began treating her like…like a, dare she say it, _freak_?

She remembered the first beating she had received from her father. She had been practicing wand movements in her room, following the markers in the books and then practicing the incantations separately.

While she did this, her father walked past her open door and saw it. He began shouting, telling her to keep her '_freakish'_ things away until she went back to _school_. When she tried to tell him it was for homework, he back handed her, knocking her across the room and onto the floor.

She had a bruised face and a black eye for weeks.

When the beatings got really bad, she covered them with a glamour necklace she had charmed while at school. Once she had re-entered the magical world, she healed the injuries and put the necklace away. She always made sure to hide from Mad-Eye when she wore her necklace.

The abuse had almost become ritual in the house now. They saw her as vermin, something to be left alone as long as it didn't draw attention to itself. She had wanted to tell people; her friends, her professors, anyone. But her parents, especially her father scared her.

She couldn't face telling anyone, so she didn't. She put a smile on her face and made up elaborate lies about her "amazing" summers and Christmases with her loving parents. But lying about it was taking its strain. The beatings were getting worse and worse and she was afraid that they might kill her in a fit of rage. So, after psyching herself up, she told the one person who she knew would understand.

Harry.

About ten minutes ago, she had sent a letter, using a piece of enchanted paper, telling him the truth of her home life. She knew he couldn't do anything. He was as trapped as she was. But as long as someone knew, someone understood…it would be bearable.

She decided to try and get some sleep. Blocking out the pain from her injuries as much as possible, she closed her eyes and cried softly as she tried to relax…

'BANG'

Her eyes shot open at the loud noise. It was an explosion, one that sounded suspiciously like a _Reducto_ spell. She listened and could hear loud shouting from downstairs.

'BANG…_THUMP_…BANG' then silence.

She smiled slightly when she realised her parents were probably dead. After all they had put her through, she couldn't bring herself to care; hell, she would have probably danced on their graves.

What worried her was who had killed them. She realised that it was probably death eaters, come to take care of 'Potter's mudblood'. She also realised that she didn't care. They could kill her if they wanted. Even if she was inclined to fight, she was in no shape to do so.

So she waited.

As she listened to the relative silence from the house, she could hear footsteps making their way up the stairs.

She waited.

The footsteps halted outside her door.

She waited.

The door clicked open and someone walked in.

She held her breath, screwed up her eyes and waited.

There was silence for a moment, before the footsteps came closer before stopping. Then, the person spoke softly.

"Hermione?"

* * *

With a rustle and a faint 'pop', Harry Potter materialised in the back garden of what he assumed to be the Granger's house. He had never been there before, but his magic had evidently known where to apparate to.

As he approached the back door, blinded by rage, his mind quietly wondered how he had apparated at all, having had no lessons in the art. There were many unknowns in how he had gotten where he was, but it didn't matter. All he needed to do was find Hermione.

And cause the people who had hurt her as much pain as possible.

His rational, sensible mind had lost complete control, giving way to the aggressive, violent, protective part of this brain. It was this part of his mind which levelled the door into the Granger residence with a flick of his hand.

"_REDUCTO_!" He roared.

The spell caved in the PVC door, taking most of the frame with it. As he entered what he assumed was the living room, he noticed a brown haired middle aged man sitting on a sofa in front of the television. As the door collapsed, his eyes shot to the intruder, he stood up and started shouting.

"WHO ARE YOU?! WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?!" Before he could do or say anything else, he had been picked up and thrown across the room, crashing into some shelves in the far corner.

Walking over, he kicked his hand as he tried to pick up a piece of debris and booted him in the stomach to slow him.

"You hurt Hermione." He spat. His chest was heaving as he struggled to control his rage. "You hurt her, so now, I'm going to hurt you." Mr Granger curled into a ball and whimpered. "_Crucio_…" he incanted softly. The man screamed silently, Harry having put a silencing spell on him before he began torturing him. "_CRUCIO_!" He spat. After holding it for a few seconds, he released it and gave the man another kick to the ribs.

"_Stupefy_." The man he assumed to be Mr Granger fell unconscious with the spell, so he turned his attention to the other Granger.

As soon as the thought crossed his mind, Mrs Granger ran into the room and gasped at the sight of her prone husband. Her eyes flitted to his and she turned tail and ran. Flicking his wrist, she was dragged back into the room and held up by her foot.

"WHAT IS THIS?! LET ME DOWN YOU _FREAK_!" Harry's eye twitched in anger. He hadn't realised that Hermione had been treated as bad as or worse than he had.

"_CRUCIO_!" He roared, spittle flying from his mouth, his face bright red. She too screamed silently, her eyes telling him all he needed to know. After giving her the same treatment, he threw her across the room to join her husband.

"_Stupefy_." He whispered and she slumped to the floor.

As he got his breathing under control and his anger bled away, he surveyed the room, looking for a sign of his friend. Realising that she was probably upstairs, he _petrified_ the two of them before slowly climbing the stairs.

The second floor was completely silent. Looking at the pictures lining the walls, he noticed that all of them seemed to have had Hermione removed, brutally, some having just been torn in held. Reaching the top landing, his eyes were drawn to a specific door; a dark brown, varnished wooden door with a brass knob. He settled his hand on the knob before opening it and entering in a deft movement.

His eyes surveyed the room, before settling on the lump on the bed, covered by the duvet. His heart broke as he saw her curled up there, having made no attempt to stop him or see who he was. A tear fell down his face, when he realised that she hadn't moved because she didn't care anymore. She had given up. Taking a few steps forward, he saw her shake with fear as she waited.

"Hermione?" He asked softly.

She gave a choked gasp, before untangling herself from the cocoon of bed sheets. She turned to face him, her features hidden by the darkness of her unlit bedroom. While he couldn't see her face, he could see her eyes. They sparkled with a mixture of hope and happiness.

"H-Harry?" She whispered. He smiled and took a step forward.

He sat down on the side of her bed, next to the kneeling Hermione and studied her face. His hand went up to touch her features, running his fingers over her bruised cheeks and wiping away her tears, before joining her with some of his own. Holding her cheek softly with his good hand, he stared deeply into her sad eyes.

"How could they do this to you?" He whispered. He rubbed her cheek gently with the ball of his thumb, Hermione leaning into his touch. "How could they do this to such a kind, warm, loving person?" Her eyes opened and she could see the sadness and sincerity in his eyes.

Tearing her eyes away from his, she looked over his various injuries, including the bruised face and the arm in a sling. His question did not have an answer. There was no reason for either of their families to treat them this way. She gently took his good hand into hers and rubbed it softly.

"Because they are monsters." She replied softly. His face hardened and he nodded.

He and Hermione had suffered equally at the hands of the muggles, too short sighted and prejudiced to accept those even slightly different from themselves. They hadn't even tried to accept the magical world, despite being linked to it via a relative. They chose to hate it, and by association, them, for no other reason than misguided fear.

Extricating the box from his pocket, he began pulling out the potions he had stockpiled; slowly healing Hermione's broken bones and wounds. As he silently worked on healing her, she closed her eyes and smiled at his touches which sent little pleasurable shocks throughout her body. Sensing him finish his work, she gently held his hand and smiled at him.

"Thank you Harry." He smiled back before placing a soft kiss on her forehead.

"Think nothing of it." She blushed and nodded. He packed up the box and went to leave, before Hermione stopped him.

"Where are you going?" She asked shyly. His face turned dark for a moment.

"I was going to make some more…_permanent_ arrangements for the Grangers." Her eyes widened and she blinked in surprise.

"You mean they're still alive?" He looked slightly shocked and nodded.

"Yes, they are. I…showed my _displeasure_ after reading what they did to you in your letter, before incapacitated them and locating you. You were my main concern." She smiled as she felt a warming sensation from his words. "Why?" She averted her gaze from him.

"I…I thought…I _hoped_…that whoever had attacked had killed them." She whispered. He came and sat back down next to her, lifting her chin back up to eye level.

"Don't feel ashamed Hermione. That thought crosses my mind every day with my _relatives_." He said softly. She began to cry slightly, so he wiped her tears. "Hey, hey; stop that crying, ok? Don't shed tears over them. Remember; they're monsters, so we should treat them like monsters." She smiled tearfully and nodded, pulling him into a loose hug.

"Thank you." He smiled into her hair and mumbled a 'you're welcome'.

As they pulled away, their faces were extremely close together, their eyes staring deeply into each other. After a moment, they leaned forward and their lips met in a soft, but passionate kiss. She brought up her hands and tangled them in his messy hair, while Harry's good hand wrapped around her waist loosely.

When they eventually broke apart, they leant their foreheads together and closed their eyes, a smile on their faces. After enjoying the moment for a little while, Harry pulled back, kissed her lips again softly, before turning serious for a moment.

"Hermione; what are we going to do? I don't know about you, but I don't want either of us to stay in our current summertime accommodations, despite what the _venerable headmaster _says." She nodded in agreement, a small frown on her face.

"I completely agree, Harry. I don't want to be around my family anymore." She thought for a moment, before smiling evilly. Harry saw that and replied with a smirk.

"I know that smile. It means the brilliant Hermione Granger has an equally brilliant plan!" She blushed, smiling from his sincere compliments. "So what have you got for us?" He asked.

"Well Harry, I don't know about you, but I just want to go. To disappear. They can fight their war while we leave." Harry looked shocked for a moment, before a wide smile grew across his face.

"Well, thank God!" She looked at him curiously, so Harry explained his way of thinking, the letters he had sent, plus the one that was sitting on his desk and the less than satisfactory replies. "I thought I might have to convince you to come with me." She smiled and kissed him.

"No, I completely agree with you. This war isn't ours to fight." Harry nodded.

"So, what was your plan?" He asked.

"We stage our deaths." He blinked in shock, so she continued. "Listen, we stage a 'death eater attack' at both our houses. We kill our relatives; cast the dark mark and burn down the houses with _fiendfyre_; then go to Gringrotts and ask for their help in 'disappearing'." Harry thought it over, before nodding thoughtfully.

"That's a good plan. If we do it right, they won't know the truth!" He grinned. She smiled in return, before frowning.

"What about the guard on Privet Drive? How will we…incapacitate the Order?" She asked. Harry waved his hand dismissively.

"That's not a problem. We can stage the attack so it happens on Mundungus' watch. He usually appears for his shift drunk, anyway, so we can get rid of him that way." Hermione nodded and smiled.

"Alright. So, who should we deal with first?" She asked. He grinned evilly, stood up and held out his good hand for her.

"How about we make the Grangers…more _comfortable_?" He asked innocently. She shared his smile before laughing sinisterly, making him shiver in pleasure.

Hand in hand, they walked down stairs so that Hermione could introduce Harry to her parents, _properly_.

* * *

Nymphadora Tonks sat disillusioned in a deck chair in the garden of No 4 Privet Drive. Despite it being summer, the air around her was extremely bitter, so she cast a silent warming charm on herself, before checking the time.

Her shift was nearly done and Mundungus would be taking over. As she sat there, she picked up on a rather loud 'crack' accompanied by a series of mutterings and grumblings. She sighed and pinched her nose. Dung had no idea how to be stealthy. Watching him approach, she stood up and glared at the small wizard.

"Shut it Dung; we're trying to stay hidden, you know. You ain't helping with your bloody mutterin'." She hissed quietly.

"'Ere, I didn' want to do this ruddy guard duty, you know. Got bloody 'volunteered', didn't I?" He grumbled. Tonks sighed, before handing over the Omnioculars she was carrying.

"It's part of being an Order member, Dung, so get used to it." Having had enough of his grumbling, she made her way down the street, before apparating just out of sight.

Seeing the metamorphmagus disappear, Mundungus took her seat and settled down. Rubbing his hands together with the cold, Dung pulled out a flask of firewhiskey and took a gulp, sighing as he felt the burn down his throat.

"How's it this cold in ruddy July?" He muttered to himself.

Just as he went to take another swig, a spell shot from the darkness and he fell unconscious. After looking around to make sure there were no other Order members nearby, he cast an Anti-Sobriety spell on the unconscious wizard, before spilling the contents of his flask on him. With that done, he made his way back to the house.

Pulling off his cloak, he stepped into the sitting room where the three Dursleys were lying, tied up and very much incapacitated (although, his uncle could still yell). He looked at Hermione and smiled, which she returned.

"Dung is out for the count. I cast the charm and I spilt the alcohol he brought with him on his body and on his clothes. We're good to go." She nodded. Before they could continue, Vernon looked at Harry and snarled.

"Boy, you get us out of these ropes _now_!" Harry looked at him incredulously, before laughing manically.

"Or what _Uncle_?" He sneered. The man blinked, before stringing together a chain of obscenities without taking a breath. Harry sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose.

"Oh shut up." He pointed his hand at the eldest Dursley. "_Crucio_." Vernon's screams reverberated off the walls of the house.

Releasing the curse, he waited for the man to get his breath back, before reapplying the curse as he began shouting once more. After several applications of the curse, Vernon looked at Harry with something akin to fear, before speaking.

"What…what do you…want from us? Do you…expect…me to apologise?" He sneered while panting breathlessly. Harry laughed in response, which made the man shiver.

"Oh no, Uncle Vernon; I expect you to _die_." He pointed his hand at the man, grinning evilly. "_Avada Kedavra_." The green spell collided with his chest and the light in his eyes faded.

While this was happening, Harry was wondering how he had managed to get such a mastery over wandless magic. He had only been using it for a few hours and he was already able to cast the Cruciatus and Killing curse perfectly. Storing those thoughts for later, he turned to Hermione and gestured to Dudley.

"You can have the whale if you want?" Hermione grinned sadistically.

"My pleasure." The boy's screams filled the house. While his girlfriend tortured Dudley, Harry turned his attention to the other prisoner.

"Ah, my dear Aunt Petunia. Such a shame it had to end like this. It could have been a lot different, you know? But you ruined that." He pointed his hand at her, like before. "I'd say I won't be enjoying this…but I'd be _lying_. _CRUCIO_!"

Harry and Hermione tortured the pair of them for a good ten minutes before finally putting them out of their misery. While Harry retrieved his belongings, Hermione noticed a certain door beneath the stairs. With a shaking hand, she opened it before gasping.

Inside, there was a small, thin mattress, covered with a few threadbare blankets and a metal pot in the corner. Etched into the woodwork at one end of the mattress, were the words 'Harry's Room'. She shook with horror and sadness as she realised the true extent of his childhood.

As she took it in, she felt a hand on her shoulder and turned to see Harry staring into the small, cramped space. She gently took his good hand and squeezed it softly. He smiled at her, placing a kiss on her lips before hugging her. She leant in and whispered in his ear.

"They won't hurt you anymore." He pulled back and smiled at her, wiping away a tear.

"Neither of our families will." She smiled and nodded.

Having dispatched his relatives and retrieved his belongings, he sent Hedwig out with the letter for Dumbledore and headed back out into the rear garden with Hermione. Holding hands, the two leant together for a kiss, before they pointed a hand at different targets: Harry, the house; Hermione, the sky.

With a bellow, they put the next stage of their plan in motion.

"_Fiendfyre_!" Harry roared.

"_Morsmordre_!" Hermione shouted.

As soon as the incantations passed their lips, the pair disappeared with a quiet 'pop', ready to head to Gringotts to finish their plan.

* * *

So there we are!

The thing which sparked the brainwave that created this story, was actually when I was working on 'Harry Potter and The Rise of Charon'. I started off writing a different starting for it, but it mutated into something else, so it wasn't useful to me in that respect. In case I needed it in the future, I stored it in my notebook, making adjustments every so often.

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed reading it! Please read on!

**This is the Quill, signing off!**


	4. Chapter 4

**The Quill's Note Book**

Welcome back, readers!

Now, this story isn't really a story. It is a small segment which occurs at some point after Harry dies in the final book. It is different slightly, in that Voldemort doesn't bring Harry's body to gloat, and that he didn't just kill him. He beat him up slightly. It also gives a 'smart Harry' impression, rather than in the books as well.

Well, I hope you enjoy: Harry's Back!

* * *

**Chapter One: Harry's Back!**

'Oh Harry,' Hermione thought forlornly, 'we need you…I need you.'

With an almost silent rustle, a figure appeared in front of the defenders. He stood there, leaning heavily on his left leg, the right having been rendered useless; clutching his right arm to his chest, which looked broken; and wearing tattered robes which were drenched with crusty blood, mud and grime. His head was bowed, looking directly at the ground.

The defenders were silent. None of them could tell who this individual was. Voldemort was equally surprised. He had cast the anti-apparition and portkey wards himself – it shouldn't have been possible to breach his defences. Taking a step forward, he addressed the new comer.

"You, wizard, identify yourself." He said with a snake like hiss. Much to the shock of most of the people gathered, the figure began to laugh, his head still bowed. Voldemort, furious at the defiance from this individual, drew his wand and pointed it at him. "TELL ME WHO YOU ARE?" He roared in anger. Slowly, the man's head began to raise, a pair of emerald green eyes fixed upon the dark lord.

"Harry James Potter; at your service…" He answered with a smirk.

Those gathered gasped. The defenders, who had almost given up hope, looked at the man with wide eyes and a warm feeling in their hearts. The Boy Who Lived was alive. Hermione's heart soared. He had come. He had heard her call and come. Voldemort recoiled slightly in surprise, before narrowing his eyes in anger.

"Potter; how are you still alive? I killed you myself." Harry smiled, a small amount of blood dripping from the corner of his mouth.

"You know what they say, Tom. Reports of my death have been greatly exaggerated." He chuckled slightly. Riddle sneered at him, raising his wand once more.

"No matter; I killed you once before, I will do so again." With a cold laugh, he aimed his wand directly at Harry. "Avada Kedavra!"

The green killing curse sped toward Harry, who made no move to avoid it. Just before it hit, he waved his hand and spoke clearly.

"Amor Erit Scutum," A massive blue shield formed instantly, covering both himself and the defenders behind him. The curse was absorbed harmlessly into its walls.

Everyone, including the death eaters gasped. The killing curse had been blocked. Voldemort was shocked; his strongest curse had been stopped. It was impossible: the killing curse could not be blocked. Frustrated, he cast it three more times, with the same result. He snarled at Harry, casting every spell he knew.

"POTTER; how are you doing this?!" He roared.

"It's simple," Harry smiled and laughed again, "_magic_."

With another flick of his wrist, the spells Riddle had cast were spat out of the shield, tearing towards unsuspecting death eaters. The initial wave of killing curses took down several men, while the extra spells injured many others. Voldemort looked around as he watched his minions fall like flies, before turning back to Harry, his eyes burning.

"You're a coward, Potter; hiding behind a shield, using my own spells against me…why don't you fight like a real wizard?" Harry laughed.

"Alright Tom," He stepped out of the shield he limped closer to him, "let's dance!" Voldemort responded with a roar.

"AVADA KEDAVRA!" While the dark lord's green curse sped toward Harry, he withdrew his wand and met the dark lord's spell with one of his own.

"AMOR MEUS ERIT GLADIUM MEUM!" The words rolled off his tongue in a few seconds.

With a flash, a bright white spell hurtled toward the green and they met in a magical clash, sparks and lights flashing wildly. The two streams from their wands created a bubble of magic in the middle, which convulsed rapidly, the colours swirling.

Despite his injuries, Harry put his all into the spell, his face gritted with a look of concentration and tiredness. Voldemort meanwhile, was struggling to maintain his curse. The _Priori Incantatum _effect which he had been plagued with since his resurrection had returned.

Slowly, the white began to advance on the green, pushing the curse back inch by inch. Riddle was aghast; he had the Elder Wand! This shouldn't have been possible! Reaching down into the depths of his mind, he pulled up every dark, evil, hateful emotion he could muster, forcing it into the stream of magic. This did not stop the advancing white spell.

"WHAT IS THIS MAGIC?!" He roared in fear and anger.

Sweat began to pour from both their foreheads and Riddle began to panic. He fell to his knees in exhaustion, still maintaining the curse, giving it his all. As Harry's spell finally forced the green back entirely, and the white touched the tip of Riddle's wand, the Death-Stick exploded in a flash of bright white, the shockwave knocking everyone, bar the duellists, to their feet.

The wave of energy tore into Riddle, scorching his body with a pure white flame. His inhuman screams echoed around the grounds as his body disintegrated into nothing, the dust fading with the wind. Harry stood unmoving, panting tiredly, his wand pointing at an invisible foe.

As the defenders pushed themselves to their feet, the first thing they saw was the scorched and burnt bodies of Voldemort's minions, the dark mark on their arms black and charred. When the self-proclaimed dark lord had died, the white magic had followed the connection to his minions, burning the dark magic present in the marks.

Hermione was the first to take a step toward the unmoving wizard. As the others got their bearings and cleared away the cobwebs, she came up behind him tentatively.

"Harry?" A breath caught in his throat. The heavy panting ceased and he made no sounds. Finally, his wand clattered to the floor and he let out a painful sigh.

"It's over." With that, he keeled over to his left and collapsed on the ground.

With a gasp, Hermione ran to his side and squeezed his hand. She took in the scale of his various wounds and shouted for a healer. If they didn't hurry up, they could lose him.

"HARRY! Come on Harry; wake up! Wake up!" She pleaded.

His eyes shot open and he let out a shuddering breath. He blinked groggily before settling his tired gaze on her. He smiled at her, his eyes twinkling with obvious love and affection. Her breath caught in her throat as she saw the intensity of his gaze.

"Hello Hermione." He lifted a hand and brushed her cheek softly, wiping away the tears which fell from her eyes. "Hey, don't cry; we won. You and me 'Mione; we won." She smiled beautifully and nodded.

"That's right. We won." He laughed slightly before it devolved into a hacking cough. She frowned and held his hand tighter. "Now you stay awake, alright? There are healers coming and you are going to be fine; do you hear me?" She questioned sternly. He grinned and saluted cheekily.

"Yes Ma'am." She giggled slightly, which made his smile increase tenfold. Having a sudden thought, and wanting to keep him talking, she frowned and looked at him curiously.

"Harry; those spells…" She paused "…I've never heard of them before. What are they?" He smiled and coughed lightly.

"'Amor Erit Scutum' which translates to 'my love will be your shield'." She nodded in understanding. "It focuses the casters love of an individual into an impenetrable bubble. Its strength is determined on the love of the person and the magical power of the caster." He looked at her lovingly and she blushed.

"H-how did you find out about it?" She asked, trying to hide her reaction to the intensity of his gaze.

"I spent years trying to find out how my mother saved my life that night. It took a while but I finally managed to locate the spell, written in her journal. She crafted it herself. She must have had an idea of what was to come." Hermione nodded.

"What about the other one?" He smiled tiredly.

"'Amor Meus Erit Gladium Meum' which translates to 'my love will be my sword'." He coughed again before continuing. "I crafted that one myself, using my mother's notes. Dumbledore said my power was my capacity to love. All I did was give it a focus." She smiled shyly and nodded.

"Harry, if you don't mind me asking; who did you focus on when you cast those spells?" She asked hopefully. He smiled and cupped her cheek loosely.

"I focused on you Hermione; only on you." He replied. He leaned close to her ear and whispered. "I love you Hermione Granger." She sobbed slightly, before crashing her lips against his.

They kissed passionately for a few minutes before they broke away, panting. She smiled widely and kissed him all over his face, tears pouring down her cheeks.

"I love you too." He smiled widely and the pair embraced in the battle torn grounds of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.

* * *

Ah, there we are: another fiction bit where Harry and Hermione get together...I think you can see that I'm a HHr writer!

Now, the idea for this story came when I was fiddling with the 'Google Translate' tool. I tried translating english into latin and had a mess around. For those religious people out there, I adapted the saying from the Bible into those spells. Harry used love to defeat the dark lord, rather than using a stupid loophole with the Elder Wand...that really irked me that ending...

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed reading it!

**This is the Quill, signing off!**


	5. Chapter 5

**The Quill's Note Book**

Hello again, my loyal readers!

Ah, now this story is one of my favourites. I had actually written this with the intent to make it into a fully fledged story, but lost my inspiration to write it and decided to move onto other topics. Anyway, this is another of my 'depressive Harry' fictions.

I hope you enjoy reading: He's Got A Gun!

* * *

**Chapter One: He's Got A Gun!**

A rhythmic clicking sound echoed around the stone walls as he span the cylinder. With a short flick of his wrist, it fell back into place in line with the chamber. Waiting for a moment, he repeated the process, pushing out the cylinder, spinning it roughly, before snapping it shut. His eyes were closed as he listened to the rhythmic clicks, focusing his mind only on the sound.

After repeating the motions a few more times, he paused. His eyes opened and he stared at the silver-grey revolver, staying completely motionless and silent. Smoothly and softly, he moved his thumb and pulled the hammer back with a quiet 'click'. He shut his eyes and took a deep breath.

As he stood by the railing in the Astronomy Tower, he was buffeted by the strong Scottish winds. He revelled in the cold, wet breeze, the dark skies and bitter weather reflecting his mood perfectly. Contrary to his feelings, his face broke out into a small smile, feeling the stinging drizzle burning his raw cheeks. His hair was plastered to his face, and his glasses had large droplets making their way down his vision.

As he stood there, he tensed and his grip on the gun tightened. He could sense another presence heading up the stairs to the tower. He didn't know how someone had found him. After losing Sirius in the ministry, this became a daily ritual for him, heading up to the tower late at night, allowing him to reflect on his life, and see it for what it was; a massive crock of shit. He heard the door creak open and felt someone step into the room. Instantly, he knew who it was. After a moment of silence, he spoke to the intruder.

"It's nice up here, you know…quiet, secluded…lonely…perfect place to think." He tapped the barrel of the revolver on the railing softly, eliciting a rhythmic, metallic 'clink'. He opened his eyes but did not turn around to face the trespasser into his space. "I come here a lot these days…just to think." He heard the invader's foot scuff on the floor as she took a step toward him.

"I know you do. I've been watching you for some time, Harry." He felt slightly incensed she had been keeping tabs on him, but sighed when he realised it was typical Hermione behaviour. She cared so much, it was scary at times…but reassuring for him. He heard her take another few steps toward him before pausing once more. "Why don't you talk to someone about…about your problems? Remus, Dumbledore, Ron…me – we would all listen." She asked quietly. He sighed but did not turn to meet her eyes, which he felt burring into the back of his head.

"Because none of you can understand…no matter what you've seen, what you've lived through…you can't understand…you can't understand _me_." He said simply. Another step forward, however this time, she was close enough to place a tentative hand on his shoulder.

"Then help me…help me understand, let me inside Harry…drop your defences and just talk to me…you'll find I'm a good listener." She answered softly.

He glanced down at the revolver in his hand and saw it shaking. He felt his barriers, his restrictions on his mind crumbling under her words and her touch. With a trembling thumb, he released the hammer with another 'click' and the gun fell to his side. He heard his friend let out a sigh and slowly pulled it from his hand. His fingers were loose and barely keeping it in his fist, making it an easy job. Once she had it, she put it on the floor and kicked it to the other side of the room and turned him around.

As he turned to face her, she pulled him into a tight hug and held him as he cried. His walls came crashing down as he cried on her shoulder. She pulled him to the floor and the pair sank to their knees, Hermione never letting him go as they sat down.

After several minutes, the dam that was Harry's mind broke, and he told her everything about himself…everything; every beating, every bit of neglect, his thoughts, his fears, the overall injustice of his life, everything. And true to her word, she listened. She allowed him to rant, to cry, and everything he had kept in over the entirety of his life flood out in an instant. She didn't interrupt, nor comment on his bad language or his berating of staff and friends…she just listened.

The outburst lasted an hour…sixty minutes in which every dark secret, story, fact, thought and emotion about Harry Potter was related to her. And she cried…she cried for his loss, for his pain, for his suffering, for the general shitty-ness of his life…everything.

After calming down, he looked at her and smiled the first true smile he had in months. Seeing the weight lifted from his shoulders, she smiled too and hugged him tightly. As they held each other, he whispered in her ear.

"Thank you." She looked at him curiously.

"For what?" She asked. He smiled at her and ran his hand through her hair.

"For being here, for listening…for caring…" She smiled tearfully. "…and for reminding me of every single reason why I love you." She gasped slightly and stared at him disbelievingly.

"Y-you love me?" She asked breathlessly. "You m-mean…" She began.

"Yes…I love you. Hermione Jane Granger; I love you completely, honest and true, one hundred per cent." She began to cry so he lifted his hand to her cheek, caressing it softly. "I love you." He leant forward and captured her lips in a kiss. She replied instantly, making his heart soar. As they broke apart, she replied with four simple words.

"I love you too." His smile reached new proportions and he kissed her again. While they kissed, an angry voice interrupted from behind.

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN, YOU LOVE HIM?!" Ron shouted furiously. The pair broke apart and stood up, facing their friend. He was holding Harry's revolver, pointing it at the pair. The breath caught in Harry's throat slightly and she looked at him.

"Harry…there weren't bullets in there, were there?" He looked at her before dropping his head in shame. She squeezed his hand, having had a glimpse into the dark world of Harry's mind.

"I…I kept it as reassurance…so I could use it if I wanted to…just as a way to get out." She nodded and smiled reassuringly at him, which made him smile back. Ron was becoming highly annoyed at this point, being completely ignored, so he pulled the hammer on the revolver.

"DON'T FUCKING IGNORE ME, YOU BACKSTABBING ASSHOLES!" Harry's eyes shot to face his friend, narrowing at the threat.

"Don't be a fool Ron…we can talk about this, like adults. There is no need to threaten us." His friend growled at him, aiming it directly at him.

"SHUT THE FUCK UP HARRY! WHY SHOULD I LISTEN TO YOU TWO WHEN YOU HAVE BEEN SCREWING MY GIRL?!" Hermione's eyes flared angrily and her wand shot from its holster and pointed directly at Ron.

"I AM NOT 'YOUR GIRL' YOU BASTARD! I NEVER EVEN FUCKING LIKED YOU; I ONLY TOLERATED YOU FOR HARRY'S BENEFIT, BECAUSE FOR SOME REASON, HE THINKS YOU AREN'T AN ARROGANT, DISGUSTING PRICK!" Harry was shocked at Hermione's outburst, but slightly warmed by the lengths she went to, to make him happy.

By this point, Ron was completely incensed.

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU NEVER LIKED ME?! YOU'VE BEEN LEADING ME ON FOR GOD KNOWS HOW MANY YEARS…" Before he could finish, she interrupted him, her face bright red in anger.

"LEADING YOU ON?! _LEADING YOU ON_?! YOU MUST BE HAVING A FUCKING LAUGH…" Before she could continue, Harry held his hands up and tried to calm the situation.

"Guys, come on, we can talk this through. There is no need to be shouting at each other like this." Ron's aim jumped once more to Harry. His face was blood red, his anger palpable.

"I SAID SHUT THE FUCK UP HARRY!" As he finished his sentence, it was accompanied by a loud crack. They all went silent, as the smoke drifted from the barrel of the gun. Harry staggered backwards slightly and slapped a hand to his chest. He lifted it off and saw blood coating his hand.

"R-Ron?" He said weakly. Ron did not register having heard Harry. He pulled back the hammer with a 'click' and fired twice more. Finally, Hermione reengaged into the situation and she screamed out a spell.

"_EXPELLIARMUS!_" The revolver flew from his hand and slid across the room into a dark corner. "_PETRIFICUS TOTALUS_!" His arms and legs snapped to their sides and he fell to the floor, still seething with anger.

Breathing heavily, she turned to Harry and ran to his side. She saw his wounds; three gunshots to the chest. 'They aren't too bad.' She thought. 'I'll banish the bullets and heal the wounds.' She pulled out her wand and tried to cast a spell on the bullets…with no result. She tried again before Harry grabbed her hand and shook his head. She looked at him incredulously before he rasped out an explanation.

"The bullets…they're magical…I made them…so…so no one could…heal me when I…when I decided to use them." She gasped slightly and shook her head.

"Harry, you…you…" She couldn't find the words to express herself. She burst into tears and sobbed on his chest. As she cried, tears filled his eyes.

"Hermione…I'm sorry. I-I didn't expect this to happen. It was meant…it was meant to be a last option in case it became too much." He held her hand with one of his and stroked her hair with another. "I'm so sorry." She looked at him and smiled tearfully.

"Don't apologise Harry. I have seen your world and…I think…I think I would have pulled the trigger a long time ago. You're a strong man Harry." He smiled at her. As they held each other, he gasped slightly with a realisation.

"Hermione…" She looked up at him. "The bullets are magical…but they can be removed…manually." Her eyes widened and she smiled brightly. She pulled open his shirt and, thinking quickly, transfigured two stones into a scalpel and a pair of tweezers. She looked at him, waiting for confirmation.

"Harry…this will hurt…a lot." He nodded and smiled, a small amount of blood seeping from the corner of his mouth. Taking a deep breath, she widened the wounds with the knife and began extracting the remains of the bullets. He screamed in pain, and she looked at him sadly.

As she removed the fragments, piece by piece, staff members rushed up the tower, having heard the shots echo around the school. McGonagall, Dumbledore, Snape and Madam Pomfrey all stood in tower, looking at the scene before them: a subdued Ron Weasley and a bleeding Harry with Hermione trying to remove something from his body. The head of Gryffindor was first to speak.

"Ms Granger; what in merlin's name are you doing?!" She glanced around and saw the teachers. She gasped and pleaded slightly.

"Ron shot Harry with a muggle gun…but the bullets are magical and while they are in the wound they will prevent healing. I'm trying to remove the fragments." The school nurse gasped, rushing over to Harry's side and retrieving the transfigured tools, taking over Hermione's job. Meanwhile, she moved to one side and held his hand. The deputy headmistress moved to his other side and held his other.

"Squeeze my hand as much as you like, Harry. Keep your eyes open and stay awake." McGonagall said softly. He nodded and smiled at the pair gratefully.

After a few minutes of Harry's screams and a number of blood replenishing potions later, the last of the fragments were removed from his body and the wounds were healed. His throat was hoarse from his bellowing, and his eyes were raw from pain-induced tears, but he breathed loudly in thanks for his pain being over. He smiled at the three women before speaking.

"Th-thank you…" Before they could reply, he fell unconscious. Madam Pomfrey saw this as a perfect time to move him, conjuring a stretcher and levitating him out of the tower. At a nod from Dumbledore, Snape also levitated the restrained Weasley out of the tower. Before she could follow Harry, McGonagall placed her hand on Hermione's shoulder, which made her turn to face her.

"Ms Granger, can you explain why Mr Weasley shot Mr Potter? _Why_ is there even a gun in school in the first place?" She grimaced slightly.

"I can't tell you everything, professor; Harry placed trust in me when he told me what he did…he wouldn't want me revealing everything he told me." The aged professor pursed her lips but nodded. Dumbledore took this moment to step forward and address her for the first time.

"Well, what can you tell us, Ms Granger?" She sighed and thought for a moment.

"Well…the gun was Harry's. He was up here with it…thinking…when I came up looking for him. I tried to convince him to tell me what was wrong…and he did. He broke down and I think he told me everything about himself." The professors were surprised – he was a notoriously closed off individual.

"As we talked, he admitted to me that he cared for me…deeply…and I told him I felt the same way." She blushed slightly. "That was when Ron came in. He must have heard some of the conversation because he was shouting about how we betrayed him and went behind his back and how I was 'his girl'…but he had picked up Harry's gun which I had kicked across the floor. He held it at us threateningly." She frowned as she thought. "Ron and I got into a shouting match about how I wasn't his…and Harry tried to calm us both down, talking levelly trying to get us to sort it out civilly. Ron told him to shut up before…he pulled the trigger." The headmaster nodded.

"Is it possible it was an accident?" He asked quietly. Her eyes flared and she walked to where the gun lay. She brought it back and showed the professors.

"These types of guns require you to pull the hammer back each time you fire…he fired three times. I have no illusions that he intended to hurt Harry…or me." The professor nodded gravely before taking the revolver from her and putting it into his pocket.

"Very well, Ms Granger, thank you for relating the events of tonight to me – rest assured Mr Weasley will be punished for his actions against another student…although I may have to punish Mr Potter for having the weapon in the first place." She nodded sadly. "Perhaps you should head back to the dormitories." She nodded and went to leave, before McGonagall spoke.

"I will escort her Albus…make sure she gets there without being hassled by Mr. Filch." He nodded and bid them both goodnights, before descending the tower. The professor cast a silencing spell before turning to Hermione. "Ms Granger; am I correct in assuming that the weapon was…" She paused to find the right words. "…a means of suicide?" She looked at her for a moment, before nodding sadly.

"He told me he kept it mainly for reassurance…that he could use it if it got too bad." The professor nodded grimly. Hermione began to break down. "He finally started to talk! He had disarmed the gun and given it to me…I should have put it somewhere…why did I just kick it away?" She sobbed and the professor held her while she cried.

"Ms Granger, you cannot blame yourself. You did not force Ronald to act. In fact, it was probably the calm and polite response of Harry which he used as an excuse to hurt him." She looked at her questioningly. "If you had kept the gun and put it in your pocket, Mr Weasley still had a wand: he would have still tried to hurt you both." Hermione sniffed and nodded. The professor smiled at her before leading them down the stairs.

"I think you have performed admirably tonight. Harry has finally opened up to someone and shared his burden. He has chosen wisely to give his heart to you." Hermione blushed and smiled at her professor, as they made their way to the dormitories.

* * *

There we are then!

As you can probably tell from the way I've written it, it was supposed to go on much further. But, I've lost my inspiration and I'm content to let this story gather dust in my ever growing notebook. I actually wrote it in one of my more depressive moods. I focused on the imagery in the first part of the story, imagining the gun and how it would sound and feel.

I hope you enjoyed reading it!

**This is the Quill, signing off!**


	6. Chapter 6

**The Quill's Note Book**

Hello my readers!

Now, this is one of my favourite fragments. This was intended to be continued into a story, but I lost interest. I may start writing again, but not until I've finished some of my other stories! Once again, I couldn't think of a name for the story or for the chapter so I kept the name I used in my notes!

Without further ado: Intelligent Harry

* * *

**Chapter One: Intelligent Harry**

Hermione huffed in annoyance, as she scanned the Marauder's Map. She had been tracking her friend, Harry, on the parchment, until he had disappeared completely. This was the fourth night in a row this same scenario had occurred.

It had been a week ago that she noticed Harry disappearing for hours on end toward the conclusion of the school day. After she and Harry had rescued Sirius from the Dementors and the ministry a fortnight ago, they had grown much closer as friends. Harry had shown a new affinity for studying and often spent hours with Hermione reading or completing homework in the library and common room. She liked this change in her friend.

She had become more and more attracted to him, and not in a platonic sense. When they had flown on Buckbeak to rescue his Godfather, she held on to Harry for dear life, not because she was scared, but because she relished in the contact. Hermione had tried to get him to notice her in a romantic sense, but he was a notoriously closed off individual. She aimed to change that.

Shaking her head, she turned her attention back to the map. She tried to think of where he could be in the school, since you couldn't apparate inside the castle, and portkeys had to be authorised by the headmaster. She had been tracking him through the corridors, using the map to stay out of sight, and he had just disappeared. She leant against a wall and thought. She was on the seventh floor, nearby a tapestry of Barnabas the Barmy. As she stood there, she began to chant a phrase in her mind.

'I need to find out where Harry is…' After the third recitation of the phrase she jumped as a door faded into view on the opposite wall. Curious, she stepped forward and placed her hand on the doorknob. It clicked open easily and she stepped inside.

The room was a shock; it was filled with a large amount of equipment, ranging from muggle electronics to potions ingredients. A large amount of workbenches held various devices, though she could not interpret their uses, with a raven haired boy standing at one with his back to her. Taking a step forward, she was relieved she had found her friend.

"Harry?" She said quietly. Quick as a flash, he span around pointing a contraption directly at her, making her jump. She automatically held up her hands, and Harry sighed in realisation. He placed the object back on the bench and walked over to her.

"Merlin Hermione, you can't sneak up on people like that! I could have hurt you." He finished, smiling. At the same speed he had turned around to face her, she shot forward and grabbed him in a tight hug, much to his shock.

"Harry, where have you been? I've tried to find you for four days on the trot!" She pulled back and glared at him. He chuckled and grabbed her hand, leading her to his workspace.

"Well, you managed to find me – well done!" He said, smiling widely. She blushed slightly and her lips twitched with a smile. Harry seemed different than usual…more confident, she noticed. He let go of her hand and swept the room with a wide gesture. "This is my…well I suppose 'lab' would be a good word." She ogled at him and then the room.

"You mean…you mean you built all these…things?" She said in awe. He nodded and grinned. "Why did you act so dense before today if you could do all this?" He mock pouted at her.

"Hey, that's not very nice." He glared at her, playfully, making her giggle. "I'm not dense…I just chose to hide my intelligence…in here." He gestured around the room.

"What, instead of using it _in class_, where you are _supposed_ to show your intelligence?" She said incredulously. He chuckled.

"Yes, well, my childhood didn't really necessitate me showing off my intelligence…in fact, initially it was the cause of a number of beatings…" He trailed off as she paled and he changed the subject quickly. "Anyway, that's why I've become more studious now." He grinned at her and she shook her head, deciding to let his slip up go, for now. She looked around at his many contraptions and he sighed as he walked.

"Most of them aren't finished yet." He said, gesturing to the workbenches. "A few of them are nearly done, but it I can't find ways around certain problems." She smiled at him.

"Maybe I could help, I mean, I might as well, since I'm here." She said, innocently, trying to hide her excitement at learning new things. Harry noticed and chuckled.

"That's not a bad idea; I need a new pair of eyes and someone with a brilliant mind to look at these." She blushed with the compliment.

They spent the next few hours looking at the workbenches and at the various contraptions, while Harry explained their purpose and how they worked. Hermione offered advice and new insights while he made notes.

Eventually, they arrived at a table with a device which looked like an odd wrist watch. It had a large rectangular digital display, about the size of a mobile phone, and had a skin of dark green metal. Harry beamed at this particular device.

"This is one of my 'greatest inventions'." He said, in a mad scientist voice, making Hermione giggle. "It's a perfect blend of magical and muggle science – what I like to call, 'Technomancy'." He grinned manically and she shook her head in amusement.

"What does it do?" She said simply.

"Ah, it's a new form of transport; it's a development on matter transportation technology with some arithmancy mixed in!" He began to pace while becoming more excited, and launching into lecture mode.

"Recent scientific experiments have been done into the feasibility of 'teleportation' as a concept. Now, the main problem for scientists was trying to get around the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle." He paused and tried to sound as un-patronising as possible. "Do you, er, know what that is?" She rolled her eyes and smiled.

"The Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle states that you cannot simultaneously know the location and the speed of a particle." Harry's eyes lit up and he grinned.

"Right, so if you don't know the position _and _the speed of the particle, then how can you teleport it?" She was enthralled. "To get around the principle, they used a phenomenon known as entanglement, which is when…" He began to explain.

"…photons, electrons or even small diamonds interact with one another physically, before separating." Harry nodded manically and grinned.

"Right again, Hermione! It's great having someone to talk to all this about, someone who understands!" She blushed and smiled. He conjured a blackboard and drew three circles. "Anyway, if a scientist tried to study the photon too closely, they would bump it, thereby changing it." She nodded in understanding. "So what they do is entangle photon A to photon B, transferring information on A to B, then entangle B to C, again transferring the information which becomes an exact replica of photon A." He smiled proudly, having drawn arrows on the chalkboard to signify his explanation.

"So, what modifications did you make?" Harry grinned and flipped the piece of chalk in his hand.

"Well, at the beginning of my explanation, you said that entanglement works with small diamonds as well as photons and electrons." She nodded. "Well then, it occurred to me that a magical crystal small enough for the phenomenon to apply, which could also carry magical data, could be used to store the information on the teleported matter!" Hermione's eyes widened.

"Harry…that's brilliant! You could charm the crystals to keep detailed information on the order of the human body organised completely, so it would never run the risk of being re-integrated incorrectly!" Harry nodded. She frowned slightly. "How did you get the crystals to hold so much information? Arithmantic law states that the smaller the object, the less magical storage capability it has…" Harry smiled.

"The answer it actually amazingly simple: create a large crystal with a large storage capacity…and shrink it." Hermione gaped at him.

"Is it that simple?" She asked incredulously.

"Indeed: the size manipulation spells merely compress the object into a smaller area, not 'shrinking' the object itself." She nodded in understanding. He grinned and continued.

"After I had succeeded in a successful teleportation of a galleon, I began to make my device much smaller, enough to work as a handheld transportation option, rather than a large box, like the first computers…" She giggled slightly. "However, once I started working on living samples, I…had a _bit_ of trouble with the crystals ordering the more complex structures…." She looked at him funny.

"What do you mean, Harry?" He flushed slightly and coughed.

"Well…the crystals didn't keep the molecular order of the structures and…the molecules lost cohesion…" She turned pale when he added the last part. He noticed and shook his head. "Don't worry; I haven't tested it with a human test subject, yet." She blinked at him.

"I would bloody well hope not, especially if it has issues with…" She grimaced "…_molecular cohesion_." She shuddered. He nodded.

"Yes, I quite agree; while I am certain it is now safe, the threat of danger in using a _human_ test subject until I had confirmed it is unacceptable." He emphasised the word 'human'. She gaped at him in shock.

"Please tell me you haven't been using animals?" She said, turning a bit green. He frowned and shook his head.

"No, of course not; there would be little point in sentencing them to an uncertain fate. I don't know for a fact that I have the device working correctly so it would be cruel and inhumane." She let out a sigh of relief. "We are going to use…" He waved his wand and a large orange object appeared.

"…a pumpkin?" She finished. He grinned and nodded.

"A pumpkin is complicated enough to tell us whether or not the device can prevent molecular breakdown and large enough to be a suitable test subject comparable to a mammal." She nodded and took a step back. Harry attached the device to the large pumpkin and stood back next to Hermione with a wireless remote. He grinned at her and passed the button to her. "Would you like the honours?" She giggled and nodded.

Waiting for Harry's signal (a thumbs up) she pressed the switch and a bright white flash filled the room. As it faded, it was clear the pumpkin had disappeared, making Harry yell in celebration. A few seconds later, it rematerialized on the other side of the room with another bright flash. He ran over to it and scanned it with his wand. Hermione waited anxiously to see if it had worked. With another yell, Harry picked her up and spun her around, making her giggle uncontrollably.

As he put her down, they stared into each other's eyes without speaking. Hermione was lost in his emerald green and Harry was admiring her chocolate brown. After a moment, she leant forward and pressed her lips to his. A spark passed between them and she moaned into the embrace. Running her tongue across his bottom lip, he opened his mouth and they deepened the kiss. After a few minutes, they broke their connection and panted in satisfaction. He grinned at her.

"If you were interested, the device worked." She giggled and slapped his arm in jest. "Seriously though, where did that come from?" She blushed and he smiled her reaction.

"Well, I…I really like you Harry." She said, averting her gaze. "I wasn't sure how to tell you and this seems as good a time as any." He tilted her face back up to his gently with his hand and gave her another kiss on the lips.

"Well, it was a good time Hermione. I really like you too. The time we have spent together recently…it has been amazing." She smiled at him.

"Harry, do you think…you and me?" She said, changing her statement part way through. He smirked and kissed her nose.

"Hey, isn't the guy supposed to ask the girl?" She huffed playfully before smiling. "Yes Hermione, I would love to give you and me a chance – will you be my girlfriend?" She smiled widely before squealing and kissing him thoroughly.

"Yes Harry, yes I will!" He smiled in return. "Now then, why don't we test the device a bit more?" Harry nodded and grinned.

The next few hours were spent performing several more tests of the MT 13 (Matter Transportation – the '13' represented the number of attempts he had made) and each time the device performed flawlessly. After a while, they decided to head back to the dormitories. Before they left however, Harry picked up the device and grinned at Hermione.

"Tomorrow, we can test it properly!" He said excitedly, making Hermione shake her head in amusement.

* * *

The next day of school went by relatively normally, with no unusual events interrupting their routine. Harry decided that they would perform the test in the common room in full sight of the other students in case something went wrong.

Harry, Hermione and Ron sat by the fire in a collection of armchairs while Harry twiddled with the device, pressing the digital screen every so often. While this wasn't unusual to Hermione, Ron was utterly baffled by Harry's actions.

"Harry, what in merlin's name are you doing? What is that?" Other people in the common room looked up to see what the loud mouth Weasley was talking about.

"It's nothing mate, just something I'm working on." He kept his attention focused on the device and Ron frowned.

"Come on mate, can't you tell me what it is?" Before he could speak, Hermione snapped at Ron.

"Honestly Ron, if he doesn't want to tell you, pestering him won't help." He glared at her before retorting.

"Oh, siding with him are you? I bet he has told you what it is, hasn't he?" Hermione didn't respond. "He has hasn't he? He tells you but not me! I've been his friend longer!" Harry sighed and looked at his annoyed friend.

"Ron, I told Hermione because I needed her help trying to get it to work." He turned a deep red before standing up and shouting.

"What, aren't I smart enough to understand, is that what you think? Why don't you just tell me rather than 'lording' your intelligence over me?" Harry pinched the bridge of his nose.

"Fine, you want to know what it is: it's a new form of magical transport. I told Hermione because she is the only one I know with any knowledge of theoretical and applied physics. If you just stopped being jealous for five minutes then I would have explained when I finished my work." Ron sat back down and fumed quietly. Harry sighed and looked at Hermione.

"Hermione, can you pass me that remote we used yesterday?" She nodded and leant over to pick it up but Ron snatched it from her grasp.

"What do you mean 'yesterday'?" He shouted. "Why do you keep going behind my back with all this stuff?" Harry was rapidly getting angry, but he paused when he remembered what Ron was holding.

"Ron, be careful with that!" He began, before he was interrupted by a new tirade.

"WHAT? DON'T TELL HER TO BE CAREFUL, DO YOU? _OH NO_, ONLY RON HAS TO BE CAREFUL IN CASE HE BREAKS SOMETHING." He pointed the remote at Harry, who was paling rapidly.

"Please Ron, put it down…" At this point everyone in the common room was watching the display, and could see Harry's fear about the remote.

"Ron, just give it to Harry." Neville said quietly. Ron snapped his head to him and snarled.

"SHUT IT LONGBOTTOM!" He turned back to Harry. "COME ON HARRY, TELL ME, WHY DO _I _HAVE TO BE CAREFUL AND NOT HERMIONE BLOODY GRANGER?!"

As he finished the question, he threw the remote across the room. Harry gasped and tried to grab it. He missed and it hit the floor, activating the switch. With a white flash, Harry disappeared from the room leaving a silent common room behind. Hermione gasped and swung her fist at Ron, connecting with his face and leaving him on the floor.

"YOU STUPID IDIOT RON," He winced at the volume, "YOU STUPID FUCKING IDIOT!" The room gasped at Hermione swearing. As her anger drained away, she burst into tears and fell to her knees. Neville ran to her and held her.

"Hermione…where is Harry?" He asked quietly. She howled in tears and it took a few minutes for her to calm down enough to answer.

"I-I don't k-know." She said tearfully. "The device hadn't been tested on a human before." She sniffed. "The remote was a wireless means to activate it. When _Weasley_ threw it, it activated." She sobbed some more. "I don't know where the destination was set for." Everyone glared at Ron, who shrank even further into the floor.

"That was why Harry said to be careful, Ron." Neville said firmly. "You are such an idiot sometimes…" He turned back to Hermione. "So what can we do?" She shook her head and sighed.

"Nothing; all we can do is wait and hope."

* * *

Shortly after the incident, Neville and Hermione had informed the professors of Harry's disappearance and set about trying to find a way to bring him back. Hermione found his 'lab' quite easily and began looking through his notes on how the device worked. She worked furiously, spending all her free time learning the ins and outs of the device and the science behind it.

Three days later, Hermione, Neville and Ginny sat eating dinner quietly in the Great Hall. The news of Harry's vanishing act had circulated around the school and it was a point of much amusement for Draco Malfoy. Seen as very distasteful by the majority of the student population, in the three days he had been gone, Malfoy had received a broken nose eleven times, making Madam Pomfrey very busy correcting it.

Over the time he had been gone, Hermione had barely eaten, barely slept and worked almost continuously for a solution. Despite staff members and her friends telling her to stop overworking herself, she refused to give quarter.

The hall was alive with much talk and gossip, the disappearance of Harry becoming old news. Hermione sat pushing her food around her plate, much to the distress of Neville and Ginny.

"Please Hermione, eat something." Neville pleaded. "You are doing no good running yourself into the ground." She glared at her friend before her face softened. She sighed and began to eat, which made Neville smile. "Don't worry Hermione, Harry will find a way back – he always does." She smiled at him and began eating with renewed vigour.

After a few more minutes, Hermione was ready to leave for bed. However, just before she stood up, a bright white flash filled the room making her heart soar. She spun around and saw Harry standing in the centre of the Great Hall. His body was extremely dirty and his clothes were badly torn. His body was covered in cuts and bruises and he was quite bloody. However, it was old blood, having hardened and turned crusty on his skin and clothes.

She smiled widely, but it faded when she saw the vacant expression on his face. All of a sudden, he collapsed to the ground with a dull thud. Hermione was by his side in a flash, holding his hand and talking to him.

"Harry, come on Harry, wake up, come on wake up!" She said frantically. Without warning, his eyes shot open and he jumped to his feet. He withdrew his wand and pointed it at them all threateningly. He slowly began to back out of the room, not taking his eyes off anyone.

"Stay back, all of you." He growled. "Where am I?" His breathing became laboured and irregular. "This has to be some sort of trick. You're not real – any of you!" Hermione took a step forward and his eyes snapped to her. "I SAID STAY BACK! NONE OF YOU ARE REAL!" He began to whisper barely audibly. "You can't be…you're all dead…" She ignored the comment and took another step.

"Harry…calm down. It's us…you're back." He shook uncontrollably and snarled at her.

"NO! YOU'RE ALL DEAD; he's taunting me…he's doing this to break me. He won't break me…I have to get back…I have too…" He swayed slightly and stumbled backwards. Hermione rushed forward, wand or no wand and held him tightly.

"Harry, it's me…its Hermione. You're back…sshhh, you're back." He shook violently, before bursting into tears. He returned her embrace and cried onto her shoulder. Professor Dumbledore walked over, along with Professor McGonagall, waiting for a signal from Hermione. She looked at them and nodded. With a red flash, he was rendered unconscious and levitated to the hospital wing.

As they left the Great Hall, the Gryffindors turned to glare at the cause of Harry's disappearance, Ron Weasley, who sunk down in his seat.

* * *

Harry's eyes shot open and he found he could not move. He was able to turn his head but his body was completely immobilised. He glanced around the room, but it was redundant without his glasses. He began to panic, and frantically tried to move his limbs before a soft hand was placed on his forehead.

"Sshhh, Harry, its ok." His heart soared when he recognised the voice.

"Her…mi…ne?" He rasped weakly. The hand brushed his cheek before placing his glasses over his eyes. As his sight returned, he smiled at her tearfully.

"Yes, it's me Harry. You're back in Hogwarts." He reached his hand up, cupped her cheek and began to cry happily.

"You…you're real…you're really here…" He coughed slightly. "Does that mean…am I back? Did I make it?" She smiled and nodded, stroking his forehead.

"Yes – you're home Harry. You came back." He smiled and sighed as she continued her ministrations.

"Thank you." He said quietly, before hiccoughing. "I missed you so much." She smiled and ran her hand through his hair softly.

"I missed you too." She leant down and gave him a soft kiss before running her fingers through his hair. They remained there for a moment, basking in the other's presence, as Professor Dumbledore and McGonagall joined them.

"Ah, Mr Potter, you are awake." He said kindly. Harry positively beamed at them and tears continued to fall down his face. "How are you feeling?"

"Better…how long was I gone?" The two professors frowned slightly before McGonagall replied.

"You have been gone three days." Harry closed his eyes and tears escaped from the corners. McGonagall and Dumbledore looked at each other with apprehension before speaking.

"If you don't mind me asking, what happened to you, my boy?" He scrunched up his eyes and his breathing became irregular once more. A small whimper told the professors what they needed to know. However, before they could back track the conversation, he looked at them tiredly.

"My…my wand?"

Hermione passed him his holly and phoenix feather and he pressed it to his head. Concentrating hard, he pushed a memory onto his wand and held it out weakly. Dumbledore produced a small vial from his robes and captured the memory, capping it. Harry smiled weakly before falling back asleep. Hermione frowned and went to wake him, before the professor stopped her.

"Let him sleep, Ms Granger. He has obviously been through an ordeal." She nodded and looked forlornly at her boyfriend. "Perhaps you should accompany us to view this memory." She nodded again and, with a parting kiss to his forehead, followed the two professors from the hospital wing.

* * *

As they ascended the stone steps into the headmaster's office, Dumbledore conjured two squashy armchairs for Hermione and Professor McGonagall. With a flick of his wand, a stone bowl floated from a cabinet and landed with a soft thud on his desk. He pulled out the vial of memory and poured it into the bowl.

"Professor, what is this bowl?" Hermione asked curiously.

"This, my dear, is a pensieve. A very rare piece of magical equipment – it allows for the playback and storage of memories." She nodded in understanding. She had read about these devices. Seeing her curiosity sated, he looked at them both. "Well then, shall we crack on?" They nodded and placed their fingers in the bowl, being sucked into the memory, appearing in the Gryffindor common room.

"_Please Ron, put it down…" _It was clear to the three visitors into the memory he was extremely terrified of the remote.

"_Ron, just give it to Harry." _Neville spoke up for his friend. This was something unbecoming of the shy Gryffindor, which made McGonagall smile.

"_SHUT IT LONGBOTTOM!" _The head of the lions growled slightly and decided to have another word with Weasley when the memories had finished. _"COME ON HARRY, TELL ME, WHY DO I HAVE TO BE CAREFUL AND NOT HERMIONE BLOODY GRANGER?!" _

As they watched, Ron pelted the remote across the room in his jealous anger and it landed upside down on the floor. They had seen Harry dive for it, and miss, before it hit the carpet and activated. The image was blurred as Harry disappeared and the image faded.

It began to twist into a new image, that of a rather eerie and overgrown forest. The three looked at each other and frowned slightly.

"So it appears Harry did indeed end up somewhere during the journey." The two nodded. "The question is; why did it take three days for him to return?" Hermione frowned in thought. Just then, Harry pulled himself from the ground and looked around.

"_Well, at least the device seems to have worked." _He patted himself down and smiled. _"I appear to be intact with all my faculties…test one success, Hermione." _He said to thin air. Said person smiled and blushed at his mention of her. _"Question is; where am I?" _He smiled wryly. _"'I don't think we're in Kansas anymore…'" _He chuckled slightly at his attempt at humour. Meanwhile, Hermione shook her head at the corny line, and that he said it in a possibly life threatening situation.

Deciding to move on, Harry pulled out his wand and cast a spell Hermione herself had crafted: the point-me spell. She smiled at his use of her work.

"_Point-me Hogwarts."_ He said simply. However, the wand did not move, not even registering a location choice. He frowned and tried again, with the same result. Changing tactic, he tried again.

"_Point-me Forbidden Forest." _The wand span around frantically, which made his frown deepen. _"Ok, so I'm in the Forbidden Forest…now how to get out…"_ He thought for a moment before smiling.

"_Point-me Black Lake."_ The wand leapt up and pointed in the correct destination for the lake. Deciding to go further, he looked to the sky and grimaced.

"_Sorry about this Hermione: __D__istantia __R__evelans__." _A pale lettering came out of the end of his wand showing the distance to the destination. He smiled and set off in that direction. Hermione was silently fuming: he had modified her spell and hadn't said anything! When she got out of this memory, she and him were having words, she thought.

"What is that spell Harry just used?" McGonagall asked quietly. "I've never heard of it before…" Hermione smiled and nodded.

"You wouldn't have professor. I crafted that spell myself, and clearly Harry has modified it slightly." She normally strict and emotionless professor smiled at her favourite student.

"That was some excellent spell work, Ms Granger, and an altogether very useful spell." She smiled and blushed.

The memory faded again and swirled into another landscape…a landscape that brought a gasp to all four of them; the memory and the visitors. They stood behind Harry as he stood by the banks of the Black Lake. However, he was not staring at the water, but at the castle – or what was left of it.

"_Sweet Merlin and Morgana…" He whispered in horror._

The once noble battlements were crumbling ruins and daylight could be seen through the windows, shining through from the other side. The damage was quite old, having had a chance to be weathered by the rain and become overgrown. There was little wood remaining from the beams and the large doors were missing. In their place, further debris could be seen, the entrance hall having collapsed on its self.

Harry shuddered at the image and looked around to see if there was anyone. He glanced toward the Quidditch Pitch and saw…nothing. He looked toward Hagrid's hut and saw the same. The place seemed to have just been swept clean of the school, only trace amounts of the castle remaining.

"What has happened here?" McGonagall whispered in a similar tone to Harry. Albus frowned and spoke gravely.

"It appears Harry has travelled to another reality…one where the school has been destroyed." Hermione shuddered and remembered Harry's words when he returned in the Great Hall…

"_I SAID STAY BACK! NONE OF YOU ARE REAL! You can't be…you're all dead…"_

She frowned in thought for a moment, before a thought occurred to her and made her face pale. She turned to the headmaster and spoke quietly.

"Professor…is it possible…t-this i-is the f-future?" McGonagall's eyes widened as she considered the possibility and Albus sighed lightly.

"It is entirely possible, Ms Granger. However, we cannot speculate until we study the device and speak to Harry in person. There is no sense in fear mongering by pointless hypothesising." She nodded and they continued to watch the memory. They watched as Harry plopped down onto a flat rock and stared at the castle, his head in his hands.

"_What do I do?" _He said out loud. _"The castle has been destroyed." _He looked at the device on his wrist and tapped the display. _"The device must have malfunctioned."_ As he fiddled, they all jumped when a gruff voice interrupted from behind.

"_Oi, you there, throw any weap'ns you 'ave down an' turn around!" _The three visitors span around to face the new comer and gasped. Harry soon complied, throwing his wand to the ground and turned toward the voice. He gasped too.

"_Hagrid," _He began, _"is that you?"_ The half giant narrowed his eyes slightly as he tried to recognise the person.

The gamekeeper had seen better days. He was covered in a large amount of scars and his clothes were quite torn. His long brown mane had been invaded by silver-grey and his eyes had lost their childish twinkle and joy. He held what Harry recognised as his trusty crossbow, pointing it directly at him, with a bolt loaded. Harry gulped and tried to get him to remember.

"_Hagrid, it's me; Harry…Harry Potter."_ His eyes widened in realisation and the crossbow fell to the floor, forgotten. He ran to him and pulled him into a tight bone-crushing hug. He burst into loud tears and sobbed unashamedly. After a moment, he stopped and put a winded Harry back on the ground and beamed at him.

"_Blimey it's good to see you 'arry!" _He let out a sniff. _"I never believed it when they said yer were dead…" _Harry paled and swallowed noisily.

"_D-dead, what do you mean dead?" _He asked anxiously. Hagrid frowned at him and retrieved his crossbow.

"_I think yer should come with me, 'arry. I'll take yer to meet with the Order." _Harry frowned and nodded, following the giant as he walked into the Forbidden Forest.

As they watched the scene unfold, all three visitors to the memory were highly shocked. Hermione looked between the professors for some comment, or an explanation, but they were as silent and gobsmacked as she.

The scene twisted and melted again, bringing them all back to the Forbidden Forest. Harry was still following Hagrid, neither speaking as they walked. In an instant, a voice echoed around them, making Harry shiver in dread.

"_Identify yourselves or we will give no mercy." _Harry swallowed nervously. The voice sounded strangely familiar but he couldn't place it. Hagrid spoke up confidently with his booming voice.

"_It's me, Hagrid…and I've brough' a guest wi' me."_ As he identified himself, a person began to form from the shadows and stand in front of them.

He was a tall man wearing camouflaged muggle clothing. He had long, thick, black hair which came down past his shoulders and had hazel brown eyes. His face was lightly scarred and held a bit of a smile when he looked at Hagrid. On his back, he had an L115A3 long range rifle and a Browning LA91 pistol attached to his hip. He had his wand out and held it pointed at Hagrid and Harry.

"_What was the name of the three headed dog on the third floor in my first year?" _He asked quickly. Hagrid chuckled and glanced at Harry.

"_Tha' would be 'Fluffy'."_ He said with a grin. The man nodded and turned his wand on the second individual.

"_Who is this Hagrid? And why is he wearing Hogwarts student robes – the school hasn't existed for over twenty years?" _Hagrid coughed slightly and grinned at the man.

"_Neville…tha's Harry…I told yeh he wasn' dead, but yeh never believed me!" _Harry and the visitors gasped. It finally clicked – the man was none other than Neville Longbottom. Harry gaped like a fish before speaking.

"_N-Neville, is that you?"_ He asked quietly. He laughed and kept his wand trained on him.

"_I think I should be the one asking that, don't you?"_ Harry nodded. In answer, he raised his fringe so they could see his scar and showed them his wand. Neville paled when he saw the evidence, but did not give in. _"Alright, if you're Harry, then you'll know the answer to this question: what happened in the common room before you went down to save the Philosopher's Stone involving me?"_ Harry smiled at him.

"_You stood up to us for sneaking out, and were prepared to fight us to stop us losing points. Hermione put you under a body-bind spell." _Neville broke out into a large smile and grabbed Harry in a hug.

"_Bloody hell Harry, it's damn good to see you again!" _He grinned, but soon his face fell into a thoughtful frown. _"Harry, where have you been for the past twenty odd years?"_ Harry frowned.

"_I'm not sure. I just got here about half an hour ago." _Neville's eyebrows shot up in surprise. _"Neville, when did I disappear?" _He grimaced.

"_You disappeared in 1993…we were in the common room, you and Hermione were having a tiff with Ron because he was being a prat and you were fiddling with that device." _He pointed to his wrist. _"Ron stole your remote and threw it on the ground. Then you just disappeared." _Harry paled and leant against a tree, feeling weak.

"_Sweet merlin…what year is it Neville?"_ He asked.

"_It's 2022 Harry…you've been gone 29 years." _Harry shook as he looked at the device. The visitors looked at one another and frowned. Hermione was right; he had gone to the future. Neville walked over to Harry and placed his hand on his shoulder.

"_Come on Harry, we'll take you to the camp and try to figure out what happened." _Harry nodded and followed Neville and Hagrid out the clearing and deeper into the forest. As they disappeared from view, the memory began to tear at the seams and crumbled, forcing the three back out into the headmaster's office.

They sat for a moment, taking in what they had seen. Dumbledore waved his wand and a tray with a teapot and cups appeared, along with tea bags, sugar and milk. McGonagall made each one of them a drink and they drank deeply in silence. Finally, after a moment, he began to speak to them.

"I believe we must endeavor to speak to Harry as soon as possible. While clearly, the future world where Harry did not return for 29 years no longer exists, there may be important information he can give us averting any issues in the near future." They all nodded. Hermione looked at the professors and put down her teacup.

"Professors, is it alright if I go to see Harry? He may be awake now." The headmaster smiled and nodded kindly.

"It is perfectly fine, Ms. Granger. If he is awake, please tell him we will want to speak to him about his…_adventure_." Hermione smiled and thanked him, before leaving the office. McGonagall turned to Dumbledore, extremely pale.

"Albus, if that is the future, what can we do? It does not bode well for the light." He nodded and sat back in thought.

"Do not fret, Minerva; the important thing to remember is that the future is just that: the future. It can be changed and re-written. While Harry may have experienced one possible outcome, it is not the only one, and he has already changed it by returning." She nodded and the pair continued to drink their tea in silence.

* * *

So there we have it!

I did a lot of research for this story, but held back from posting it because I wasn't sure. Then of course, I lost my inspiration and moved on to warmer climbs as it were. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed reading it!

**This is the Quill, signing off!**


	7. Chapter 7

**The Quill's Note Book**

Hello readers!

Now, as every HP fanfiction writer knows, at some point, you have to write a fiction about the potions book. Even if you just touch upon it, you will inevitably write one. It's like a right of passage. Anyway, this is my first stab at it! Just a small one, where Harry does what I think he should in the sixth book.

I hope you enjoy: The Potion's Book

* * *

**Chapter One: The Potion's Book**

Harry sighed tiredly as he watched his friend storm off without giving him even as much as a glance. Hermione had become more and more annoyed since he had been using the Prince's potions text book in class and getting better marks than her.

He had tried to apologise, but she had never stayed around long enough for him to breathe, let alone speak to her. After about two weeks of her silent treatment, he had finally had enough, and seeing her sitting outside by the lake reading, he marched up to her before she had enough time to escape.

Pulling out the book, he threw it to the floor and scowled at her.

"You know what Hermione? Considering all the years we've been friends, I'd of thought you would at least give me the chance to apologise. But since I got this book, you've been...you've been a complete bitch! And I'm sick of it!" He spat.

He drew his wand and her eyebrows shot up in shock. He then pointed his wand at the book and cast a spell.

"_INCENDIO_!" The book burst into flame and within seconds, was nothing but dust. Putting his wand away he glared at her.

"There; it's gone. I hope that makes you happy Hermione. You know, I was only trying to do well in potions. I couldn't give a damn about being top of the class. But clearly you do and apparently, it's worth more than our friendship." He turned around and began to walk away from her. "See you around Granger."

Hermione blinked slightly in shock, looking to the spot of charred grass, then Harry, and then back to the grass. After a moment, she got up and ran after him.

"HARRY!" She yelled. He didn't stop.

As she was gaining, he turned a corner and disappeared. Hermione knew he was under his cloak. He would be long gone. With a sigh, she walked back to the common room, feeling absolutely rotten.

* * *

He closed his eyes and breathed in deeply. Calming his mind, he focused his thoughts before tapping in to his pent up anger.

His eyes shot open as he was filled with a burning rage. With a roar, he lifted his sword and swung at the dummy. He decapitated it with a single strike. Turning around, he swung once more and tore a dummy's leg off.

During the next five minutes, he proceeded to brutalise the dummies the room had created with swift and fluid movements. After he had finished, observing the destroyed pieces of his mock-enemies, he panted tiredly and closed his mind once more.

He was completely calm. His anger had been vented and he felt much better for it. Putting the sword back on the rack, he picked up his towel and dried his face off.

Since he had distanced himself from Hermione and Ron, he had thrown himself into studying and physical training. He used the Room of Requirement to run, vent his anger, practice duelling, swim, lift weights and meditate.

The results were obvious; he was no longer the scrawny teen he had been a year before. He had filled out his clothes, his body toned and sturdy; he had increased his stamina; he had learned more offensive and defensive spells; and improved his duelling. He had even mastered occlumency, now that he didn't have Snape as a teacher.

Closing his eyes and thinking, the room shifted around him into a bathroom, similar to the one used by the Prefects. Slipping into the soothing water, he sighed and began to relax. As he did so, his thoughts turned to Hermione.

She had been skirting around him for nearly two weeks. When it seemed like she would come to apologise, she would suddenly lose her nerve and disappear. He hadn't been avoiding her, like she did to him. While he might get some satisfaction from it, he couldn't do that to his one-time friend; it would be cruel.

He hadn't been holding a grudge. He was simply waiting for an apology.

After washing himself, he climbed out, dried off and pulled on some of the new clothes he had bought from Hogsmeade. They were well fitting and meant he could finally dispose of Dudley's cast-offs. He opened the door of the room and headed back to the common room.

His recent changes were far reaching and were noticed by nearly everyone. He had even returned the Quidditch Captain badge and quit the team, siting to Professor McGonagall that he wanted to devote more time to his studies. This caused uproar in Gryffindor, especially from Ron and Ginny.

* * *

"HARRY! Professor McGonagall said you quit the team!" Ron yelled angrily. Harry, who was reading a text book, sighed and nodded.

"Yes, I did Ron." His friend spluttered irately, while Ginny took over.

"But why Harry; you were doing well as the Captain." She asked confusedly.

"I want to put more time into my studies. I can't do that when I'm on the team. So I decided to give it to someone else. Besides, it's only a game." The people in the common room gasped. None of them expected to hear him say that.

"Just…JUST A GAME?!" Ron roared. "What's that supposed to mean?!" Harry shook his head tiredly.

"Harry, surely you don't mean that." Ginny gasped. "Come on, I'm sure we can convince McGonagall to give you your position back." Ron nodded and tried to pull him up.

"Yeah mate; come on." He yanked his arm out of their grasps and glared at them.

"Who the hell to you think you are?" He whispered dangerously. "How dare you try and question my decisions? I don't want to play. I don't even really like Quidditch. I like flying. I can do that whenever I want. If I want to spend my time working, then that is my choice." He snapped. Grabbing his books, he stormed out of the common room, ignoring the gaping faces that followed him.

* * *

Since then, neither Ginny nor Ron had been speaking to him, which didn't bother him as much as he thought it might. He instead, spent his time talking to Neville and Luna when he wasn't studying.

As he finally approached the portrait, he spoke the password quickly and stepped through in a single, deft movement. Looking around, he noticed a several small groups of people doing various things, from chatting to playing exploding snap. He caught the eyes of Ron who scowled at him before looking away.

With a roll of the eyes, he walked over to his customary armchair in front of the fire and plopped down, reading a Defence text. The noise in the room remained muted, which allowed him to be fully engrossed in his book.

So absorbed in his book, he neglected to notice someone move up to him and stand directly in front, until they coughed. He looked up and jumped when he realised how close the person was to his chair. With a chuckle, he gave a small smile to the person.

"You know, you shouldn't sneak up on people like that Hermione." She blinked slightly in surprise that he had spoken.

"I…I thought you weren't speaking to me?" She asked softly and he quirked an eyebrow at her.

"No. Well, for maybe about the first day, just until I vented my anger. But after that I was waiting for you to apologise." Her face turned sad and it looked as though she were about to burst into tears.

"I have been trying…" She trailed off. She controlled herself and spoke slowly. "Harry can we go somewhere private?" He looked up and nodded.

Shrinking his bag and putting it in his pocket, the pair left the common room and made their way to the Room of Requirement. She summoned the room, chanting a phrase in her head, and they stepped through the door.

It was a duplicate of the Gryffindor Common Room, fire and all, minus the large number of Gryffindors. She led him over to a small couch and they sat next to each other. She was silent for a moment, while she collected her thoughts.

"Harry…I just want to say I'm sorry. I…I was so horrible to you, just because you were doing well. In my mind, I saw it as cheating…I was such an arse about it." She sniffed slightly and turned her head from him. "Please forgive me."

There was silence for a moment, before she felt a hand cupping her cheek. He turned her gaze and smiled at her.

"You were already forgiven." Her eyes lit up and she sobbed while hugging him. He held her as she cried and rubbed circles on her back. After a few minutes, she calmed down and pulled back, smiling at him.

"Thank you Harry." She said softly.

She went to put a kiss on his cheek, but he shifted slightly and it landed on his lips. They were both shocked and surprised for a moment, but that was short lived. Harry's hands moved around her waist, while hers circled his neck. Harry deepened the kiss when Hermione opened her mouth slightly, using the advantage.

After a few minutes, they broke apart and looked at each other, smiling goofily.

"Wow." They said in tandem, before blushing.

Harry regained his composure and decided to admit something to his best friend. Taking a deep breath, he ran his hand through his hair.

"Hermione…I want…I mean, I want to say…could I…" He paused, before shaking his head in exasperation. "I'm going to just come out and say this." He took a breath. "I love you." He averted his gaze, awaiting the slap he thought might be coming.

He waited…and no slap came. He turned back and looked at her shocked face. Her mouth was agape, but her eyes were sparkling madly. He went to say something else, but was interrupted by Hermione jumping on him, kissing him passionately.

He was shocked for a moment, but that was short lived and he began to return it. They battled for dominance for a moment, before pulling apart, Hermione looking at him through loving and lustful eyes.

"I love you too."

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There we are! My first potion's book story!

There isn't really much to say about this one, I'm afraid. Just a little segment with no real importance to my other stories! I hope you keep on reading! There is much more to come!

**This is the Quill, signing off!**


	8. Chapter 8

**The Quill's Notebook**

Hello my readers!

This is an utterly random story I wrote. It has no real placing in any of my other works. Just a bit of evil genius stuff going on. When I wrote 'Dictatorship', the first chapter of this notebook, I had an idea and it took me two ways. These stories are the two ways it took me.

I hope you enjoy: Revolution!

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**Chapter One: Revolution!**

As the wards of his headquarters were breached by intruders, he shivered involuntarily, his magic feeling as though it had been violated. He closed his eyes and steepled his fingers, waiting for the doors to open and the trespassers to further infiltrate his sanctum.

He was not disappointed.

The black, oak double doors crashed open and the sound of dozens of military boots echoed on the wooden floor. The soldiers lined up against the walls of the long room, their muggle weapons pointed directly at him and his compatriots.

The room, in which they currently resided, had been the meeting place for his secret organisation. It was a long, rectangular shaped space, a large oak table filling the majority of its length. He sat at the head of the long table on a chair which could only be described as a typical evil villain cliché. Large and covered in black leather, it looked extremely menacing. It was a muggle swivel chair, but with a number of enchantments upon it, but none pertinent to go into at this time.

The space was normally filled with dozens of his minions, but today, he saw fit to only have three alongside him. The fools at the Ministry of Magic labelled them 'terrorists'. He preferred to be thought of as a 'revolutionary'. The starched witches and wizards that made up their corrupt governing body were threatened by change, and so, threatened by him.

He was surprised that the ministry Aurors had begun to use muggle weaponry. Normally, the pureblood bigots would never even think of stooping to the level of a common _muggle_. But then again, that was how he had gotten to such high levels of power.

Hearing the thunderous footsteps cease, he opened his eyes and looked at his comrades around the table, smiling serenely.

"Well, Comrades, it seems we have company. I believe our meeting will have to be adjourned until further notice." He finished with a chuckle.

The minions that sat on either side of the table were smiling evilly, none of them appearing to be the least bit perturbed by the large number of soldiers pointing weapons at them. Before any of the soldiers could speak, a woman dressed in a uniform similar to the soldiers stepped through the door.

She was relatively average in height, the majority of the male soldiers taller than her by a few inches. However, her posture and the look of determination on her face made her much more intimidating than mere height could. Her hair was tied in a ponytail, covered with a muggle khaki coloured cap.

Unlike the soldiers, she was only armed with a pistol, which remained strapped to her hip as she entered the room. She surveyed the room indifferently, before her eyes met those at the head of the table. Her breath caught slightly.

That lopsided smile which used to make her chest tingle with pleasure; the twinkle in his eyes, his emerald green eyes which could drown someone who made the mistake of looking too deep; his long, black, scruffy hair which demanded to be touched…she shook her head.

Replacing her calm, stoic mask, she took a further step into the room and looked at him.

"So, we finally caught you, Potter." She said with a smirk. "Took a bloody long time, but we finally caught you." He smiled widely, his eyes still twinkling.

"Oh, come now Captain Granger; I thought we were on a first name basis?" He said with a childish pout. She growled slightly in irritation.

"Stop with the chat. We have you surrounded; surrender." His smile never faded, if anything, it got wider.

"Hmm. I would agree; you do seem to have us surrounded." He agreed. She resisted the urge to roll her eyes.

"Pull out your wands and put them on the table…_slowly_." She added.

The wizard laughed and shook his head in amusement, while watching his comrades putting their wands on the oak table surface.

"Ah, I'm afraid I haven't used my wand for over three years. I don't even carry it around with me." She narrowed her eyes, suspiciously.

"Well then, how do you explain your magical signature all over the places you and your minions have been?" He grinned at her.

"Oh, just because I don't use my wand, doesn't mean I don't perform _magic_." He said.

Just then, in a movement barely noticeable to anyone, including his comrades, his little finger twitched. At that moment, a large ethereal image appeared in the centre of the wooden table, moving slowly on the spot.

As Captain Granger watched, she could see that the projection was an image of earth. She narrowed her eyes at him and pulled her pistol out of its holster, aiming it directly at him.

"No more movements Potter." She growled. He laughed.

"Ah, but I don't need to make another move. That one twitch did everything." His smile devolved into a demonic smirk and he cackled evilly. The soldiers around the room shivered involuntarily, while Granger twitched. She took another step toward him.

"What did you do _Potter_?" She snarled. He sighed and nodded to the image.

"Quite simple really; when you were tracking me around the world, did you make any real effort to try and find out just _what_ I'd been doing?" He said with a grin. Not waiting for an answer, he continued. "You see, if you had, you would have seen that I wasn't running from you…I was _planning_." He finished.

As the word 'planning' crossed his lips, a small red dot appeared on the ethereal globe – from a glance, she could see that it was somewhere in north America. The small dot began to move slowly, leaving a red line in its wake. She turned to him and frowned.

"What is this? What have you done?" He laughed.

"While I was travelling, I made preparations to seize control of the most destructive weapons on the face of the earth!" She gasped in realisation and paled.

"You haven't…you _wouldn't_…" She whispered, so he quirked an eyebrow at her in surprise.

"Hmm. Well clearly you don't know me as well as you thought, do you? Odd really, since you were chosen for this task because of our previous relationship…" He chuckled. With that, another image appeared next to the globe – a countdown clock. "It would seem that you have eight minutes left, Captain Granger." Regaining her composure, she snarled and re-aimed her gun.

"Stop the clock – _now_." She growled. His face turned cold, not a single emotion visible on his mask, and he leant forward, steepling his fingers once more.

"Or _what_?" He replied. She was silent. "As you can see, you are not in a position to be threatening me, despite having a gun pointed at my head." He smiled. "You see, should I die; every single nuclear missile on the face of the earth will fire at a pre-set target resulting in Armageddon…the end of the world." He intoned.

His voice was devoid of emotion. She shook slightly and looked at the faces of her men, who were equally terrified. They hadn't signed up for this. She steeled herself and glared at him.

"You're bluffing!" She spat. He chuckled, before his mask slipped back across his face.

"Are you a poker player, Captain Granger? I am you see…and I'm very good. Many of my comrades refuse to play me because of my excellent poker face." He stared at her. "You say I am bluffing…the question is, can you take that chance?" He said with a grin. She swallowed nervously.

"Where will the missile strike?" She whispered. He looked at the map and gestured toward the ethereal image. A new line had appeared; a blue line that trailed in front of the red dot, leading to somewhere in the middle of England.

"Birmingham." He said. Her eyes went wide. "Such a delightful city, full of so many interesting people…did you know that it is widely acknowledged to be England's second city?" He asked rhetorically. "There are 1,016,800 people; all of them completely unaware of the destruction that is coming." He laughed. She turned to him, her face pleading.

"Stop the countdown; _please_…" She begged. His face remained unchanged.

"I will stop it…_if _you and your men drop you weapons." He said. She blinked at him, before her eyes narrowed.

"This is a trick! You just want us to surrender!" She growled. He shrugged his shoulders.

"Well, don't try and justify yourself to me. I don't give a damn. Either way, my plans will move forward." He leant forward. "But are you really willing to risk the lives of the million muggles and the thousand magicals that live there?" He responded.

Her eyes flitted back and forth between him and the projected map. The countdown timer was still ticking down and the red dot was still moving. The clock now read six minutes. Seeing her tortured face, he decided to help her along.

"I'll tell you what; to help you see that I'm not bullshitting you, how about we watch some television, hmm?" He asked. With another twitch, another image appeared.

Projected on the surface of the wooden table, were the pictures from a number of CCTV cameras dotted around the city. Everything looked relatively normal. The wizard smiled before checking his watch.

"Now, let's just wait and listen. We should hear it soon." She turned to look at him.

"Hear what?" He smiled.

"Why, the five minute warning, of course." He laughed.

As soon as the words left his lips, a bloodcurdling wail began emanating from the projected images; the dreaded air raid siren that had inspired so much terror during the blitz. The people in the streets stopped and listened, before panicking in abject terror. They ran in every direction, the fear instilled from the dreaded siren causing the normally mild mannered individuals to erupt into an irrational frenzy. Seeing the panic, she pleaded once more.

"Please; stop this!" She cried. He stared at her coldly.

"You know my demands." He replied.

She looked around at her men, before sighing in defeat. She ejected the clip from her pistol onto the table and put down her gun. She turned to her men and tiredly spoke.

"Put down your weapons. Remove the magazines first." Some of the men immediately complied, but others looked outraged and refused to lower their guns.

"With all due respect, ma'am, he's got to be bluffing! This is all trickery to get us to surrender!" She glared at him.

"That may be true, but what if he isn't? I will not gamble with the lives of a million people, soldier! That is _not_ my job!" He blanched slightly before putting down his gun. The rest of the soldiers complied, bar one.

"This is _bull-shit_!" He shouted. "I'm not letting these fuckers capture us because you were stupid enough to believe their blatant lies!" He spat. The wizard took this moment to speak.

"I feel I should warn you. The clock is down to two minutes." He said calmly. Captain Granger took a step toward the unruly soldier.

"Stand down soldier; drop your weapons." She said coldly. He looked at her disbelievingly.

"How can you believe this bollocks?" He turned to his fellow soldiers, who turned their gazes away from him. "This is utter crap!"

"One minute."

"Put. Down. Your. Gun." She ground out. He was silent for a moment, while looking around at the others.

"Thirty seconds." The wizard intoned.

Finally, the errant soldier's eyes met hers and he sighed. Ejecting the magazine, he dropped his gun. Seeing her final soldier drop his weapon, she turned to the wizard pleadingly. He smiled and flicked his wrist.

Projected on the globe, the red dot, which was very near its destination blinked out and the line faded from its surface. The CCTV images from Birmingham showed cheering people as they saw the destroyed remains of the missile falling down from the sky.

With a quick glance, his minions stood up and bound the soldiers, securing their guns as they went. They were about to remove them, before he held up his hand. Walking over to the last soldier who had nearly not complied, he pulled out his revolver.

"Despite what your _leaders_ have told you, I do not enjoy endangering innocent lives in my campaigns, nor do I see them as expendable." He aimed his silver magnum. "Your foolishness nearly cost the lives of one million people. When someone threatens innocent lives, you _never_ take gambles." He pulled the trigger, splattering the brains of the Auror onto the wooden floor. "Now you've learnt your lesson." He turned to the rest.

"At least the rest of you saw the need to surrender. As such, you will not be executed. You will, however, be our prisoners for the foreseeable future." He gestured to his minions, who dropped portkeys on the bound soldiers. "Farewell."

While this had been happening, Captain Granger had been directed into a seat, but been bound to it to prevent escape. After the soldiers had left, his comrades left him and closed the doors to the meeting room.

They would secure the building and repair the damages to the wards and structure while he was busy.

The wizard walked over to a cabinet on the far wall and pulled out a bottle of brownish liquid and two glasses, before retaking his seat. Pouring himself a drink, he looked at her and gestured.

"Would you like a drink?" She blinked, before nodding hesitantly.

"Yes, thank you." She said, quietly.

He poured her a glass and offered it to her, before flicking his wrist, unbinding her. He sat back in his chair and had a sip of his drink, enjoying the burn coursing down his throat. He sighed before replacing his glass.

"Single Malt Whiskey; can't beat it. Much better than Firewhiskey or Butterbeer, let me tell you." Captain Granger sipped hers slowly. They were silent for a moment, before she spoke.

"Why am I here?" He looked up, surprised she had spoken.

"Ah, but that's the great question, isn't it?" He said with a grin. She rolled her eyes and snorted at his attempt at humour.

"I didn't mean in a metaphysical sense." She responded. His smile dropped and he stared at her intently.

"You mean, why you are not imprisoned with your compatriots?" He asked. She nodded.

"Yes. What is it you want with me?" He sighed.

"I want to know why." He said simply. She cocked her head at him.

"Why, what?" He rolled his eyes and glared at her.

"Why, after thirteen years of being at my side, did you suddenly betray me and begin working for the ministry?" She blinked in confusion, before she steeled herself.

"I turned against you, because what you were doing was wrong." She said firmly. He gaped at her incredulously.

"What _I_ was doing was wrong?! What the hell have _you_ been doing for the past five years while working for _them_?!" He spat. "Arresting non-compliant muggleborns, treating sentient magical creatures like _beasts_, fighting against the remains of Order of the Phoenix…that's what's wrong!" He growled.

"What happened to the Hermione Granger I used to know? The one who founded S.P.E.W in fourth year? The one who spent hours knitting hats and scarves to try and free the elves? The one who spent hours doing research, trying to protect a Hippogriff from execution? What happened to her?!" He shouted. As he watched, he could see that she was fighting an internal battle; one that looked extremely painful. Her face contorted into a grimace and she gritted her teeth, forcing the words out.

"I…I-I turned against you…because y-you were evil…because you were fighting against the ministry…like Voldemort was…" She trailed off, clutching her forehead.

He went to retort, but he paused. As he studied her face, his face paled in realisation. Holding out his hand, his old holly and phoenix feather wand flew into his grasp. Her eyes snapped to him and regarded him curiously and with suspicion.

"W-what are you doing?" She said softly. He shook his head and laughed mirthlessly.

"I should have known. My Hermione would never have turned against everything she believed in unless she was being manipulated." He immobilised her in a flash and pointed his wand at her.

With a flick, he began casting diagnostic spells over the unmoving witch, occasionally pulling back and reading the results. After a while, he looked at her, sighed and shook his head sadly.

"I'm sorry Hermione." He whispered.

Before she could ask what he meant, a number of ethereal evaluations appeared at the end of his wand. As she read them, tears began to fall down her face. She had been the subject of over thirty mind controlling charms, curses and potions over the space of five years.

As she read the results, the wizard began cancelling the various enchantments, one by one, until the full gravity of the crimes she had committed became obvious. Her old self screamed in horror as its shackles were broken. Her world came crashing down around her and she burst into tears.

In a flash, the wizard was around the table and holding her as she cried. While she vented her self-loathing and the disgust at being violated mentally, Harry Potter stared out into open space, a dark glare etched on his face.

Harry had often wondered why his ally, his best friend, his lover had turned against him five years ago. He had wanted to ask her in person, but he had been forced into hiding, the ministry fully aware of his opposition to their regime. He had been forced to push the question to the back of his mind, until today.

After ten minutes, she began to control her emotions and looked up at the wizard that was holding her through old eyes – eyes which had been hidden for five years. As he looked down, his breath caught in his throat. Her brown orbs were lidded with pent up lust and longing. He swallowed slightly before smiling.

"Are you feeling better?" He asked kindly. Ignoring the question, she climbed into his lap and pulled him into a soul searing kiss, which Harry was only too happy to oblige. After a few minutes, she pulled away and stared at him, a dark smile on her face.

"Never better." She answered breathily. He swallowed again and suddenly felt very warm. She gave him another smaller kiss, before hugging him. "In answer to your question, _your _Hermione is here. Thank you for freeing me from that nightmare." He smiled.

"Not a problem. I'm just glad to have you back." He answered honestly. "This whole trying to overthrow the wizarding government was a lot harder without you around to help." He said cheekily. She giggled in response, something the controlled Hermione hadn't done in years.

"I hope that wasn't the only reason you missed me?" She asked huskily. His throat became extremely dry and his mind was clouded in desire for the witch he had not seen in years before him.

"Definitely not." He kissed her neck, before picking her up in a bridal lift and carried her out of the meeting room and upstairs to the bedrooms.

He had just gotten back his fiancé.

* * *

There we are!

A bit of an evil Harry, plus some evil Hermione. There isn't much to say on this one, I'm afraid. Just that when I was writing this, my inner evil villain was cackling in joy! I hope you enjoyed reading it!

**This is the Quill, signing off!**


	9. Chapter 9

**The Quill's Notebook**

Hello readers!

Now, this one popped into my head after reading another fanfiction. I couldn't for the life of me remember who wrote it or what it was called, and I haven't seen it since. Nevertheless, it contains one chapter where the Express gets wrecked. I changed this one massively from the other fiction and I am quite proud. I was initially going to make it revolve around Harry but I wasn't sure.

You may notice that one of the characters has a name similar to one in another fiction. That is because I generally use the same character when I use an original character in a story. When I post it as a chapter in a proper story, I do change the characters and let them evolve, but they all start from the same mould.

I hope you enjoy: Ruin Of The Hogwarts Express

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**Chapter One: Ruin Of The Hogwarts Express**

As the group approached the barrier to Platform 9 ¾, Harry and Hermione were able to see the large number of Aurors guarding the entrance. While they were all wearing muggle disguises, they were mismatched with different types of clothing. One of the wizards they saw was adorned with a bright red Fez, teamed with a tweed jacket and a polka dot bowtie.

Stifling his laughter, he nearly lost control when he noticed Hermione trying to do the same. As they passed through the barrier, they were immediately scanned by a burly looking Auror with a long, thin metallic wand.

"Searchin' for dark objects" He answered simply, at their questioning looks. 'At least,' Harry thought, 'the Ministry is finally taking things seriously.'

After fighting through the large amount of people on the platform, Ron, Ginny, Harry and Hermione were finally on board the express and were searching for an empty compartment. Unfortunately, since the Weasleys had taken a long time to get them to the station, they were all almost entirely full. The only one they could see even remotely empty had a single occupant.

Hermione pushed open the door and peeped round. The person, already dressed in his uniform, was sitting with a book obscuring his direct vision. She coughed gently, trying to draw his attention, which she did. He glanced up, closing the book and regarded them warily.

Now the book had been removed, Hermione could see that the individual had a rather angular face; a small, thin, straight nose; thick, high eyebrows which made him look like he was surprised; and a pair of shockingly purple eyes.

"Er, hello; would you mind if we shared this compartment with you?" He blinked slightly, before a smile spread across his face.

"Sure; there's plenty of room." He gestured with his hand, indicating they could come in.

After a brief kafuffle while the four of them tried to put their trunks away, they finally settled and the compartment was plunged into silence. The original occupant of the room had said nothing, other than his initial response, and had occupied himself once more with his book.

Harry glanced at the reading wizard, whose face was hidden once more from view, before sharing another with Hermione and Ron. They weren't sure whether they would be able to speak without irritating the other occupant. Before they could do any thinking, he answered their question for them.

"You can talk you know. I'm not going to go nuts if you want to chat." Harry blinked, before chuckling lightly.

"How did you know?" Hermione asked the unknown wizard, who smiled mysteriously at her.

"Just a feeling." The wizard then put his book down and looked at each of them individually before smiling. "I just realised I didn't introduce myself; my name is Thomas Swift, but you can call me Tom if you like." Hermione smiled and held out her hand.

"Hello Tom; my name is Hermione. Hermione Granger." He smiled and met her hand.

"It's nice to meet you, Hermione." Ginny went next, but unlike Hermione, eyed the wizard with darkened eyes, a seductive smile, and a breathy voice.

"Hi Tom; my name is Ginny Weasley." He met her hand, but looked extremely uncomfortable with the attention of the smitten witch.

"Um, yes, well, nice to meet you too Ginny." Harry fought the urge to laugh as he watched Ginny give him the look she usually reserved for him. Deciding to rescue him, he went next.

"My name is Harry Potter. Good to meet you Tom." Tom smiled in relief as Harry offered his hand, eager to move on from the lusty witch.

"Likewise." He shook his hand firmly.

Swift then turned his attention to Ron, who was giving him a piercing stare. He had watched Ginny giving him her 'look' and immediately went into over-protective brother mode. Meeting his hand, he held it firmly, but much tighter than Harry had. However, instead of cringing or releasing his own grip, Swift met it with an even firmer hand. Before he made a fool out of himself, Ron spoke grumpily.

"Ron Weasley." Tom nodded before sitting back in his seat. An awkward silence descended over the compartment for a moment, before Hermione spoke to try and kindle a conversation.

"So Tom; how come I've never seen you around Hogwarts before?" She asked politely. His face turned grim for a moment.

"Well, I haven't attended for the last two years. My parents have been…unwell, so I was home schooled." Hermione nodded in understanding, while Ron snorted slightly.

"Must've been a hell of an illness to keep you at home for two years…" He said, not thinking before it came out of his mouth. Hermione span around instantly, a look of horror on her face.

"RON!?" She yelled. Ron, realising what he said, turned pale and went to apologise. Before he could do so, Tom held up his hand to stop him.

"It doesn't matter. Forget it." They could all see the hurt on his face, however. "Yes, Ron, it was pretty bad. They both suffered from Dementia." Hermione gasped, slapping her hands to her mouth, while Harry paled and gave him a sympathetic look.

Dementia being a largely muggle affliction, Ginny and Ron were unaware of what it was. But from the looks of their friend's faces, they knew it was serious. Seeing their sympathetic faces, he gave them a small smile in thanks.

"So why is it you can attend Hogwarts now? Have they gotten better?" Ginny asked softly. He sighed and slumped slightly.

"Well, even normal Dementia is difficult to manage. As yet, there is no cure, just ways to slow it down. However, the disease in my parents couldn't be slowed. It was killing them quickly. The reason I can attend this year, is largely because of You-Know-Who." He said softly.

"How so?" Harry asked. Tom sighed.

"During the last war, my parents were a famous Auror couple, one of the few that actually survived, despite him trying to kill them continuously." He smiled in pride of his parents. "They were a pain in You-Know-You's backside. Apparently, he hadn't heard that they were otherwise incapacitated. He decided to get rid of them early, this time around." He stopped for a moment.

"He attacked our house and killed them while I was at the Ministry." Tears began to form in his eyes. Hermione reacted, putting her hand on his shoulder, which made him smile in gratitude. "At least they died quickly. Not the way they would have died." Shaking those thoughts, he looked out the window and fell silent.

Seeing that the conversation had ended, the three of them began to chat amongst themselves. About an hour into the journey, the conversation had died again leaving the compartment utterly silent, other than the rhythm of the carriage. Hermione glanced around the cabin, her eyes lingering on the faces of her friends, before something caught her eyes. Looking at Tom, she noticed a badge on his chest: a prefect badge. Before she could comment, the carriage was rocked by an explosion.

The brakes of the Hogwarts Express slammed on, creating a stream of sparks from the rails, and throwing nearly every passenger out of their seats. In their cabin, Ginny and Ron were thrown onto Harry, while Hermione ended up in Tom's lap. Her face turned bright red and she apologised profusely, while he smiled and waved it off.

The lights in the carriage were flickering and they could see black smoke coming from the front of the train. Standing up, Swift withdrew his wand and looked at Ron and Hermione.

"We should try and find the Head Boy or Head Girl." Hermione nodded, pulling her wand out also, followed by Ron.

Before they could leave, there was another explosion, causing the train to jerk forward violently. They could hear the metallic screech of the brakes as the train slid unwillingly forward. With a glance at Hermione and Ron, Tom ran out of the compartment and headed for one of the doors leading off the train. Opening it, he glanced outside, looked down to the locomotive and gasped.

They were sitting on a viaduct over a small ravine. Before the express, he could see that the track and a section of bridge had been blown away. Not only that, but the great stone pillars holding up the train has been damaged and were cracking. The front portion of track had sunk on an angle, leaving the scarlet engine on an incline which it could not back out from.

Turning around, he saw that he had been joined by Harry, Ron and Hermione, who were also looking at the rapidly deteriorating bridge. Moving away from the door, he began to head down the train, before he was stopped by Harry.

"Where are you going, Tom?" He called.

"I'm going to the engine." Hermione looked at him like he was crazy.

"We need to evacuate the train, the bridge won't last long." Her words were accentuated by a loud groan from beneath their feet.

"Listen," He began, "if we don't disconnect the engine, it'll drag us all down into the ravine. If we can cut it lose, then it will give us enough time to evacuate the train." They looked at him for a moment, before accepting his logic, moving to follow him. He put up his hands and stopped them. "We only need one of us to go. You three can start evacuating the train." Harry looked at him incredulously.

"You can't go alone. What if something happens?" Tom shook his head.

"I'll be fine. You need to focus on the students." Harry looked torn, before nodding.

"Alright. Good luck Tom." He nodded and disappeared down the corridor. As they left to go the opposite way, Hermione ran after Tom.

"What are you doing Hermione?" Ron yelled.

"I'm not letting him go alone! You two go on!" Before they could voice their disapproval, she was gone. With a sigh, they left to evacuate the carriages.

After a few minutes, Hermione caught up to the wizard, who was helping some students out of their compartments. He saw her and his eyebrows shot up in surprise.

"Hermione; what are you doing here?" He asked. She shook her head and began assisting him with removing the students.

"I wasn't going to let you go alone, no matter what you said." He grinned at her and laughed.

"Alright then; let's get everyone out of here." She was surprised for a moment. Normally it would take over ten minutes to convince Harry or Ron. Shaking her head, they got to work, making their way to the front of the train.

As they emptied the last carriage, Tom turned around to look at her.

"Alright; now will you wait here while I try to get to the drivers?" She gave him a look that seemed to be a precursor to an argument. "Before you argue, just listen; the train is already heading down the slope. If we both go we could unbalance the train." She looked torn for a moment, before giving in with a sigh.

"Fine, but you better be quick." He smiled and gave her a wink.

"I will be, after all, my last name is Swift." She blinked for a moment, before smiling back. Swift carefully climbed onto the scarlet tender and tentatively made his way to the cabin. He soon disappeared out of sight.

After a few minutes with no sight of Tom, she began to worry. However, she soon saw two people who she assumed were the engine crew, climbing out onto the tender, followed by Tom. She smiled in relief. However, her smile was short lived as the track dropped another few feet, unbalancing all three of them as they climbed.

Tom and one of the crewmen were able to hold on, while the other slipped and fell of the side of the train. Hermione gasped as she watched the man fall. Before he could get too far, Swift stretched and grabbed his hand in a flash. As he held onto the side of the tender with one arm and onto the crewman with the other, his face contorted under the strain.

Pointing her wand at the dangling crewman, she levitated him back onto the train, relieving Tom of the weight. After that, the other two clambered back into the carriage and the crew thanked them both profusely, before heading down the corridor. Swift turned and smiled at Hermione.

"Thanks for that. I wasn't sure how long I could hold on for." She smiled and blushed slightly.

"Don't worry about it. Now, what do we do about the…" Before she could finish, the track took another jolt downwards, the locomotive sliding even faster down the slope. Running back to the doorway leading to the train, he glanced at Hermione.

"Right, you need to listen to me." She nodded. "I am going to cast a _Bombarda_ on the coupling between the train and this carriage. When I do, the train will fall and this part of the bridge will probably go with it. Once I do it, we need to get out of the carriage quickly." Hermione nodded in understanding. She grabbed hold of the inside of the carriage. "Ready?" She nodded. "_Bombarda Maxima_!"

As the spell left his wand, the coupling was obliterated, along with the rear wall of the carriage they were in, sending the scarlet engine off the end of the track. As Tom had predicted, the piece of track on which the locomotive had been sliding down broke off and followed it down. The carriage they were in slid for a moment, before settling.

Hermione released her hold and began to make her way back up the carriage, followed closely by Tom. After they had gotten about halfway, the viaduct jolted violently, sending them both flying back toward the gaping hole at the end of the railcar. As they slid, Tom was able to grab a hold of something just before falling off the train, whereas Hermione did not. She frantically tried to slow herself, but there was nothing to grab onto.

"HERMIONE!" Tom gasped as he saw her approaching the edge.

With a small leap, he released his hold on the train and caught Hermione's hand as she slipped over the precipice. With his other hand, he held the edge of the carriage, his whole body straining from keeping them both supported.

The carriage groaned and teetered slightly, but settled for a moment, allowing Tom to think. He knew he had caught Hermione, feeling her hand in his, but did not know whether she was awake.

"Hermione?" He forced out, his voice weak from the strain. "Are you alright?" He could hear her crying behind him.

"Oh merlin; Tom, what're we going to do?" She cried.

"Hermione, listen to me." She continued to wail. "Hermione, LISTEN!" She fell silent. "Don't start crying, you hear me? We aren't dead yet and I'm not letting go any time soon." She sniffed a bit but was listening.

"Tom, you can't hold us both here." She said tearfully. "Just…just let me go." She whispered.

"NO!" He snarled. Her tears stopped at his response. "Listen to me; either we both get out of this, or neither of us does." He said firmly. "Alright?" She hiccoughed.

"A-alright." She replied. He sighed in relief.

"Right, now I want you to make sure you've got a tight hold of my wrist; ok?" He said. There was silence for a moment, but he could feel her tightening her grip.

"Ok." He nodded.

"What I'm going to do is lift you up high enough so you can pull yourself up. Once you're up, you can pull me up afterwards; ok?" He waited for a response.

"Alright." Tom took a deep breath, preparing himself for lifting her up.

"Right then; we'll go on the count of three." He steadied his breathing. "One," He tensed his arms and got ready, "Two," He could feel her grip on him becoming even tighter, "THREE!"

With a yell, he pulled his arm up as quickly as he could, lifting her back up over the edge. As he held her there, he watched as she grabbed onto a hand-hold in the floor and pulled herself back up. With a sigh, he brought his other hand up to hold the edge like the other, before pulling himself up.

Hermione was breathing heavily and her eyes were screwed shut. He could sympathise. Before he could bring himself up entirely, the carriage, which had been unmoving for the last five minutes, suddenly gave another jolt as the bridge continued to disintegrate. Both he and Hermione were thrown around for a moment, but neither lost their grip. He sighed in relief and smiled at her.

As he did so, another metallic groan met their ears. Looking around, the metal handle he was clutching had broken at one end and was bending under his weight. He gasped at the sight and tried to pull himself up. Hermione reached out for him, offering her hand. But before he could take it, a loud crack cut through the air and he was gone.

She gasped and moved to the edge, trying to see him. She could not. The bottom of the ravine was shrouded by the smoke from the burning Hogwarts Express, preventing her from seeing anything.

"TOM!" She yelled, down into the abyss. Her voice echoed as she called for him.

'No…he's alive, he has to be!' She thought frantically.

"TOOOOOOOM!" She repeated, tears pouring down her face. There was no response. She went to yell again, but felt a hand on her shoulder.

"Hermione," Harry asked, "what's wrong? Why are you shouting?" He pulled her back from the edge and saw her crying face. His eyes widened in realisation "Where's Tom?" She sobbed even louder and grabbed onto his robes as she cried.

He held her as she cried; his face pale as it became obvious. With a sigh, he lifted her up and gently led her out of the carriage. She began to resist, trying to get back to the edge to look for him. He held her tight and pulled her along.

"No! He's alive! He has to be! It isn't that far down, maybe he cast a spell on himself before he hit the ground!" She cried. He pulled her around and shook her by the shoulders.

"Hermione!" She stopped and looked at him. "I'm sure he's ok. But this carriage isn't safe. The viaduct is collapsing and we need to get out of here!" She blinked slightly, before nodding.

"You're…you're right." She sighed. "Let's go." She pulled out her wand and made her way down the empty carriages.

As they made their way through the empty carriages, they could see the signs of the hasty departure of its passengers. The doors to compartments were hanging open and various belongings were strewn across the floor. They even passed the snack trolley which had over turned, spilling its cargo all over the floor. The bridge beneath the express continued to groan and shudder as they hurried through.

"How many have been evacuated?" Hermione asked quietly.

"We have gotten about half of them off, but there are still more students waiting for the queues to move forward so they can get back onto land." The bridge gave a violent shudder and fell slightly.

"We have to hurry. The bridge won't hold much longer." Harry nodded and went to speak, before they heard a voice outside the train.

"HARRY!" The voice echoed in the ravine.

Harry headed for one of the doors and stuck his head out trying to see who called. On one side of the ravine, with a large number of students, Ron had his wand at his throat, apparently casting a _Sonorous_ spell so he could hear. Seeing Harry, he continued.

"You need to hurry; the rear support pillars are crumbling! You'll be trapped in the middle if you don't get a move on!" Harry brought his own wand to his throat.

"Are there still students on board?" His voice boomed. Ron nodded.

"We're onto the last two carriages." Harry nodded and gave a thumb's up.

"Right, let's keep moving." Hermione nodded and they continued.

However, with only three more carriages to go, the viaduct gave an almighty shudder and began to give way. The car they were in tilted to one side and groaned. Behind them, the carriages they were just in began to fall like dominos down into the ravine. Harry gasped.

"It's too late! The bridge is giving way!" Just as the car they were in began to fall, it jerked to a halt, and remained in place.

Harry and Hermione looked at each other in surprise. Before either could comment, they heard Ron's magically enhanced voice echoing again.

"HARRY!" They both ran to a door and looked out.

They could see that Ron, plus a large amount of students, were staring in shock at the collapsing viaduct. Leaning down to have a look himself, he gasped. The pillars holding up the bridge were gone, completely gone. The track itself, plus the parts of the bridge it rested on were hovering in mid-air, nothing stopping them from falling.

"HARRY, LOOK!" Ron bellowed.

Following Ron's pointing finger, he noticed something in the smoke from the ruined express. As the wind blew it and cleared parts of it, he was able to make out what it was. He gasped and turned to Hermione. Pulling her forwards, he indicated to the smoke shrouded entity. Her eyes widened in shock and tears of joy ran down her face.

"TOM!"

* * *

His eyes opened with a gasp and he began to breathe heavily. Looking around, he could see that he was lying on the ground, surrounded by the debris from the wreck of the Hogwarts Express. He could just make out the mangled scarlet framework lying to one side.

He tried to pull himself up, but yelled as pain shot through his body. Looking down, he began to itemize the various injuries he seemed to have sustained. He had broken some ribs, not sure how many; he had shattered part of the bones in his left leg; he had broken his none wand arm; he was cut badly all over, including a small head wound; his body was badly bruised; and to top it off, he could see a large wooden splinter lodged in his chest.

Looking away from his body, he tried to lift himself up again, desperately trying to ignore the pain his body was in. After thirty seconds of trying, he had gotten to his feet and looked up at the rest of the Hogwarts Express.

The bridge wouldn't hold much longer. He could see the crumbling supports and he knew it wouldn't be long. As he surveyed the damage, a magically amplified voice echoed in the ravine.

"HARRY!" After a moment, he saw Harry's head pop out from the train. "You need to hurry; the rear support pillars are crumbling! You'll be trapped in the middle if you don't get a move on!" He glanced at the rear supports and saw that Ron was correct; they were crumbling fast and would fail shortly. Harry replied.

"Are there still students on board?" His eyes widened in shock. There couldn't still be students on board could there?

"We're onto the last two carriages." His eyes shot back to the viaduct. The quickly crumbling rear supports were directly beneath the two last carriages. If it fell while they were still on board, they could all be killed. He needed to do something.

Limping forwards, he slowly made his way to the large stone pillars. Pulling out his wand, he racked his brain trying to think of a spell to hold the pillars. He could not. Looking up, he realised he was out of time: he needed to do something, now.

At that moment, the pillars finally gave way, falling down into the ravine raising a large dust cloud as it impacted. Soon after, the track bed itself began to fall. He panicked. As he watched it fall, one spell stood out in his mind.

"_Wingardium Leviosa_!" He bellowed.

Pointing his wand directly at the track bed, as the pillars all fell into the ravine; the track remained firmly in place. A smile burst across his face. He had bought the students some time. As he held up the hundred tonnes worth of metal, wood and stone, he heard Ron's voice echo once more.

"HARRY!" There was a pause. "HARRY, LOOK!" As he glanced up slightly, he could see Harry and Ron looking at him. All of a sudden, Harry disappeared, bringing someone else into view.

"TOM!" He smiled widely, realising that Hermione had gotten through the train safely. Before she could continue, Ron spoke once more, this time to him.

"TOM! Are you ok down there?" Swift began to sweat under the strain of holding up the remnants of the bridge. Looking at him, he replied, forcing his magic to amplify his voice without using his wand.

"I'm alright…for the time being. You need…to get…everyone off the train…now! I can't…hold it up…much longer!" Ron nodded and disappeared from view.

Tom stood there holding the bridge for what seemed like hours, his arms shaking violently and his body screaming in pain. His face turned red with the strain, contorted in discomfort. As the pain became too much, he howled in agony, tears pouring down his face.

Fighting to keep his magic flowing, he fell to one knee, holding his wand above him like he was holding up a roof. Finally, Ron appeared again, using his wand to amplify his voice.

"TOM! The train is empty! You can let it go now!" Just as he was about to end the spell, he noticed where he was standing. If the bridge fell, it would land right on him.

"I…I can't!" He ground out. "If I do…I won't be able to…to move out of the way…too tired!" He cried in pain.

The world around him was going dark. If he didn't do something soon, he would die anyway. Forcing himself to his feet he slowly moved himself away from the ruins of the bridge. After a few minutes, he fell back to his knees, too tired to continue.

"I…I can't…" Before he could finish, he fell unconscious, the remains of the viaduct falling down upon him.

* * *

"I…I can't!" He ground out. "If I do…I won't be able to…to move out of the way…too tired!" He cried in pain.

After a moment, Swift began to limp away from the bridge, the eyes of every student that had been on board the express watching him anxiously.

Harry, Hermione and Ron watched him as he forced himself forward. They wanted to go down and help him, but there were anti-apparition wards in place around the ravine, placed presumably by those who sabotaged the track. Some of the students who were talented in Runes were frantically trying to break down the ward, but without training, it was taking a lot of time.

Hermione watched the man who had saved her life twice in one day walking in pure agony. Tears ran down her face unashamedly and she held Harry's arm in a death grip. She felt so powerless watching him struggle.

As Harry watched, he had a sudden thought. He gasped in realisation, causing a few people, Hermione included, to look at him.

"What is it Harry?" She asked curiously. He grinned at her.

"Not it; who." She quirked an eyebrow at him. "DOBBY!" With a crack, the excitable elf appeared wearing his customary ensemble of large, knitted socks of different colours and a number of woollen hats and scarves.

"Yes Mr Harry Potter sir?" The elf asked happily.

"Dobby; my friend is down in that ravine and he is badly injured. I need you bring him up here for me. Can you do that?" The elf nodded frantically.

"Yesses' Mr Harry Potter sir!" Just as the elf was about to leave, they heard Tom's magically amplified voice echo in the ravine.

"I…I can't…" All of a sudden, the remains of the Hogwarts Express and the viaduct began to fall into the ravine. Looking at Dobby, Harry yelled.

"NOW DOBBY!" The elf vanished with a crack and they ran to the edge of the ravine to see what they could.

A huge dust cloud rose up from the ravine bottom as the rubble and debris hit the ground. As it faded, they could see a huge pile of wreckage lying right where Tom had been standing. They all stared, unblinking at the rubble.

"Do…do you think Dobby got there in time?" Hermione whispered. Harry swallowed, unsure of his answer.

"I…I don't know." He paused. "Dobby?" No response. "Dobby?" Nothing. Harry's heart sank when he couldn't get a reply. He had sent his friend to his death "What have I done?" He whispered.

"We need to get down there!" Hermione yelled. Her words were punctuated by a large crash, which sounded like glass shattering.

"The ward is down!" A non-descript Ravenclaw shouted. Hermione looked at Harry, who nodded in response. Holding onto her arm, she apparated the pair into the ravine.

All they could see was a thick veil of black smoke. Drawing their wands, they blew away the smoke and moved forward into the wreckage. The whole area was a mix of mangled metal, broken stone and jagged pieces of wood.

Soon, they arrived at the spot which Tom had been occupying. A large piece of pillar had landed and broken into smaller pieces on impact, covering the area with layers of white stone and metal. They could not see any blood, however, which would have been everywhere had it hit Tom or Dobby.

As he surveyed the area, Harry saw something shining in a gap between the stones. Taking a step forward, he began to levitate a small piece of rubble off the pile. His face furrowed into a frown, before exploding into a smile. He frantically began digging through the rubble with his bare hands.

"Harry, what are you doing?" Hermione asked in confusion. Ignoring her question, he continued to dig for a while, before yelling in celebration.

"Look Hermione!" He pointed at the hole he had made. Crouching down beside him, she looked through the hole and gasped.

There was a shimmering blue dome beneath the rubble. In a flash, she had stood up, brought out her wand and started levitating rubble frantically. She was soon joined by Harry. After a few minutes, they finally succeeded in reaching the dome.

It was a large shield, being maintained by Dobby, who was protecting the unconscious body of Tom Swift. As soon as the rubble was gone, the excitable elf released the shield and walked over to Harry anxiously, wringing his hands together.

"I's is sorry, Mr Harry Potter sir, I's was not able to be popping out your friend without his permission. He was sleeping so I's couldn't ask him." Harry smiled at the elf and laughed.

"Don't apologise Dobby; you did brilliantly!" The elf beamed under his praise. Harry glanced at Hermione who was by Tom's side casting diagnostic spells. "How is he Hermione?" She stood up and levitated his body.

"He has been badly injured, Harry. We need to get him to St. Mungos, now." Harry nodded and turned once more to Dobby.

"Dobby; can you take Hermione and Tom to St. Mungos please?" The elf nodded and Harry turned back to Hermione. "I'll stay behind to tell the staff where you are." She nodded and, taking Dobby's hand, vanished from inside the ravine.

* * *

And there we are!

I hope you enjoyed that little fragment! I was going to use it in a story, but I realised that it focused almost entirely on the original character I created which is a load of rubbish. As such, I confined it to the dark corner of my notebook.

I hope you enjoyed reading!

**This is the Quill, signing off!**


	10. Chapter 10

**The Quill's Notebook**

Hello readers!

This story is a one-shot of HHr. I don't want to spoil it, but when you read it, you will probably guess the ending! Anyway, I hope you enjoy reading!

I present: Unrequieted Love

* * *

**Chapter One: Unrequieted Love**

"Hermione; can I talk to you for a minute?" She turned around and smiled at him curiously. They had been walking back from Transfiguration and had just entered the common room.

"Sure Harry. Do you even need to ask?" He laughed slightly and fidgeted anxiously. "Are you ok, Harry?" He sighed and gently pulled her to one side, sitting down on the couch by the fire.

"Yeah…yeah I'm fine…" He replied quietly "…just a bit nervous." She smiled and held his hand gently.

"You don't need to be nervous around me, Harry." She said softly. He smiled and took a deep breath.

"Ok. Well, I was thinking…about those articles in the Prophet…" Hermione's eyes darkened slightly when thinking about Skeeter "…the ones about you and me…being…together." She nodded. He took another deep breath. "I started to think about why I had such a problem about them. And I realised…that I didn't." Her eyebrows shot up. "I mean, it annoyed me that she was lying about us, but the idea of us being…together, didn't, do you understand?" She shook her head uncertainly.

"I'm not sure I do." He nodded and raked his hand through his hair.

"Well…it's just…the idea of you and me being…together, didn't make me feel weird. It felt…right, you know what I mean?" Her eyes widened in realisation.

"Harry…" She began uncertainly. He interrupted her by putting his hand on hers.

"Please, let me finish." She nodded. "The more I thought about it, the more it made sense." He paused and took a tremendously deep breath. "I really like you, Hermione." She didn't say anything. "I realised that all the years we've been friends, best friends, I might add, that I've grown to care for you more and more than a friend should." He let out the breath he had been holding. "I really like you Hermione…and I was wondering…if maybe…you felt the same?" Hermione took a rattled breath.

"Harry…I…I'm flattered…but I think I see you more as…a brother." His posture sank slightly and the sparkle in his eyes faded.

"Oh." She could hear the emptiness in his voice. He gave her a small smile. "Well, at least I got that out of the way. It won't be a problem anymore Hermione, I promise." He gave her hand a squeeze and stood up. She panicked slightly and held onto his hand.

"Harry wait…" She began, before Harry gently extricated his hand.

"Please Hermione…I just…need some time. Ok?" She nodded hesitantly and watched as Harry walked out of the common room.

Despite how civil and understanding Harry had been, she felt utterly rotten.

* * *

The next day, Hermione waited in the common room for Harry to come downstairs for breakfast. She had been thinking about their conversation continuously and wanted to try and make it right with Harry. Hearing footsteps from the boy's dormitory, she turned around and stifled a gasp.

Harry looked awful. He had bags under his eyes, his eyes lacked their usual sparkle and lustre, and his hair was dull and extremely mussed…more so than usual. As he saw Hermione, he straightened his posture and smiled tiredly.

"So, ready to go to breakfast Hermione?" He asked. She blinked slightly in shock.

"Harry…are you ok?" She asked tentatively. She was horrified that this may have been her doing. He gave her a small smile in reply.

"I'm fine Hermione. You don't have to worry about me." She nodded uncertainly before heading down to breakfast.

* * *

As they entered the Great Hall and sat down at the Gryffindor table, Ron's usual lack of tact made a return performance.

"Harry, mate, you look awful." He gave his friend a weak laugh.

"Thanks Ron, you look dashing yourself mate." His voice dripping with sarcasm.

As they began to eat, Hermione glanced at her friend every so often, noticing that he was eating very little and was pushing his food around the plate. Her heart broke as she realised that she might be the cause of his appearance and behaviour. She resolved to speak to him about it. Before she could think any more, the annoying visage of Draco Malfoy came into view.

"Hey Potter," He began with a sneer, "have you seen these badges?" Pinned to his chest was a large, circular badge with a sentence flashing up.

'Support Cedric Diggory;

The REAL Hogwarts' Champion'

Then, with a bright flash, the words changed.

'Potter STINKS'

Clearly, Malfoy and the other Slytherins found them vastly amusing, whereas Harry took one look, sighed and gave him a small smile.

"They're brilliant Malfoy. Great spell casting too. I'm sure you'll get a great mark in Charms." He turned back to his breakfast.

The Great Hall, which had paused to watch Harry's reaction to the badges, became silent. Draco searched his face, waiting for some sort of rebuttal. There was none. His smirk faded and he took in the unkempt appearance of the Gryffindor. Unsurely, he took a step back.

"Thanks…Potter." He said, slightly confused to his lack of reaction.

Turning around, he headed back to the Slytherin table and sat down. The hall was still quiet. Finally breaking the silence, George and Fred spoke quietly.

"Harry; are you…" Fred began.

"…feeling ok?" George finished. He gave them a weak smile.

"I'm fine guys." With that, he stood up and left the hall.

Hermione was panicking: had she caused this reaction? Yesterday, Harry had been fine, albeit a little angry for no one believing that he didn't enter the tournament. Now, it was like he simply didn't care. She decided to speak to him before bed that night.

* * *

Later that day, sitting by the fire where he had told her his feelings, Hermione waited for Harry to enter the common room. She was determined, that if she had caused him to react in this manner, that she would try to help him and speak to him.

After about ten minutes of waiting, Harry came through the portrait hole and shuffled toward the stairs up to the boy's dormitory. Before he could get far, she stood up and faced him.

"Harry?" He turned around and saw her standing by the fire. He smiled slightly.

"Hey there Hermione. Why aren't you in bed? It's past curfew." She walked over to him and took his hand, rubbing it gently.

"Harry, please, I need to talk to you." She pleaded. He sighed and allowed himself to be led to the couch. She sat for a moment in silence.

"What is it Hermione?" He asked tiredly. She bit her lip before speaking.

"I need to know." He quirked an eyebrow at her. "Did…did I cause you to act like this?" He sighed and raked a hand through his hair.

"No Hermione, you…" She interrupted before he could continue.

"Please don't lie to me Harry. You should know by now that lying to me doesn't work." He gave her a smile and chuckled humourlessly.

"Trust me. I'm fine. Just…feeling a bit under the weather." He squeezed her hand and kissed her softly on her forehead. "Go to bed Hermione. I'll be fine in a few days." With that, he stood up and walked up to the boy's dormitory without looking back.

She sat for a moment, unsure what to do, before taking his advice and going to bed. Hermione knew he was lying to her. She had a feeling it was only going to get worse.

* * *

Over the coming weeks, Harry gradually deteriorated. He looked unbelievably tired, like he had been suffering from insomnia; his hair was skewed everywhere, more so than customary; his posture was slumped and small; he ate very little, his stomach growling for lack of food; and his body became quite weak, causing him to stumble every so often.

Hermione had watched him carefully, beside herself with worry, unable to convince Harry to go to the hospital wing or speak to her about his problems. All he would ever do is give her a small smile and tell her not to worry, which in turn worried her more.

His friends became more aware of the change as well, gathering together like a muggle intervention, trying to convince him to speak to someone. He refused. He was never angry, he never shouted, he spoke calmly and politely, with that annoying smile on his face.

Not only were his fellow Gryffindors worrying, the other students noticed the change as well. While none of them spoke to him directly, they regarded him with pity and sympathy, leaving him well alone. Even Malfoy stopped wearing his badge, although that was more because he didn't get a reaction from Harry.

With the second task fast approaching, she realised he wouldn't do well if he continued the way he was. Hermione to do something she had sworn she would never do again after third year: speak to a teacher behind Harry's back.

* * *

Early one morning, Hermione walked up to Professor McGonagall's office and knocked on the door, looking around to make sure no one saw. A voice replied from within.

"Enter." Pushing open the door carefully, she stepped in, smiling at her favourite teacher, closing the door behind her. "Good morning Ms Granger."

"Good morning Professor." She paused nervously. "I was wondering if I could speak with you." The old witch smiled and gestured to a seat.

"Certainly." Hermione walked over and sat down. "What can I do for you?" She sighed.

"I'm worried about Harry." She began tentatively. "He's…he's not been well recently and he refuses to speak to anyone about it." McGonagall frowned.

"Have you not spoken to him about this?" She nodded.

"Several times. But he just smiles at me and tells me not to worry." The aged teacher nodded. "There's more." Hermione bit her lip. "I think I might have caused it." McGonagall's eyebrows shot up in surprise.

"How so, Ms Granger?" She proceeded to explain what had happened recently, including Harry's admission of feelings. McGonagall sat back in her seat as Hermione finished.

"I see." She pursed her lips. "I wish I could tell you that you aren't to blame, but I cannot. It has been known for a person's magic to manifest unresolved emotions into physical symptoms." She looked distraught. "Do not blame yourself, Ms Granger. Lying about your feelings is infinitely worse than simply revealing them to a person." She leant forward and looked intently at her. "But, before I act, are you certain his feelings are not returned?" Hermione looked thoughtful.

Searching through her mind, she sifted through her various memories about Harry and took in her feelings at the time. As she looked, the answers shocked her. She and Harry had a closeness that went past the bonds of friendship. It was something that she didn't share with anyone else. They knew each other extremely well, fitting together like to pieces of a puzzle.

Soon, the answer became apparent: she had feelings for Harry. With the realisation, she dropped her head into her hands and cried.

"Oh merlin…what have I done?" She whispered between sobs. Minerva looked down on her with a sad smile and placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Do not despair. Understanding one's feelings can be a difficult process. You need to step away from reality and look deep inside yourself." Hermione sniffed slightly. "I will speak to Harry during breakfast and ask him to go to the hospital wing. After that, you will need to speak with him." She nodded in understanding.

* * *

Breakfast that morning was a quiet affair. There were whispers blowing around the hall like a gentle breeze, almost all of them about Harry. His gradual breakdown had been noticed by all, including the staff after Minerva had spoken to them about it.

As Harry entered the Great Hall, he shot a small smile to a worried Hermione and took a seat next to her. Helping himself to a small amount of breakfast, he ate slowly and continued to push his food around the plate. Hermione, turning to glance at Professor McGonagall, received a small nod. The aged professor came down from the staff table and approached Harry.

"Mr Potter; it has been brought to my attention that you are unwell, but are not seeking help from Madam Pomfrey." Harry sighed and turned around.

"I'm perfectly fine Professor, although I thank you for your concern." He stifled a cough, which only made her frown deeper.

"You do not look 'perfectly fine' to me Mr Potter. I'm afraid I'm going to have to ask you to come with me to the hospital wing." He sighed and closed his eyes, before nodding.

"Very well." He replied.

He stood up from the bench and walked toward the doors, not sparing a glance for anyone. Just as he was about to cross the threshold, his stumbled slightly and fell to his knees. A number of people rushed to help but he turned around and snarled.

"I'M FINE!" Everyone paused instantly. Harry, seeing they had stopped, pulled himself to his feet and took a deep breath. "Thank you, but I do not need assistance." With that, he turned and left, his robes billowing like a certain potion's master.

The Great Hall was silent. After a moment, Professor McGonagall followed the Gryffindor out of the door. As she caught up, she saw him clutching the bannister to the stairs tightly, trying not to fall backwards. Rushing forward, she supported him and helped him stand. He turned around and smiled slightly at the teacher.

"Thank you, but I…I don't need help Professor." He said weakly. Clutching the bannister like a lifeline, he pulled himself up the stairs to the second floor. Minerva shook her head and sighed.

"Yes you do." She replied quietly before following the Gryffindor to the hospital wing.

* * *

Poppy Pomfrey sat quietly in her office, looking through some notes she had written many years previously. The only sound that could be heard was the soft ticking of the clock on her wall. As she sat there, she heard the tell-tale thud as the Infirmary door opened. Getting up, she came out of her office to see who needed her.

"Mr Potter; you always seem to end up in here at some point." She said with a sigh.

As soon as she saw him, she began to perform a visual examination, to see if there were any physical issues. That inspection immediately came up with a resounding 'yes'. He looked exhausted, the bags under his eyes showing prominently, his face was extremely pale, his eyes were bloodshot, his posture slumped, and he appeared to be holding onto the door for support.

Just as she was about to continue speaking, Minerva walked into the room and stood just to Harry's side. Poppy smiled at her, which she returned, before turning to the matter at hand.

"Mr Potter here," Minerva began, "has been…unwell for the past few weeks. He has not, however, attempted to seek medical help in that time." Poppy looked shocked and turned to him.

"And why not, Mr Potter?" He tried to hide a painful sounding cough but failed miserably.

"Because I am perfectly fine." He replied defiantly. "There is nothing…" Before he could finish, his legs gave way, his eyes rolled into the back of his head and he fell to the floor.

Casting a spell before he could hit his head, she levitated his body onto one of the vacant beds. Poppy began to cast diagnostic spells while muttering in annoyance.

"Foolish boy. Why did he not seek help? He is clearly not fine…" Minerva came over and placed a hand on her shoulder.

"Poppy, we believe that Mr Potter is suffering from some…unresolved emotions, which are manifesting in his magic." She continued to diagnose him.

"That is no excuse for not coming to be treated…" Minerva squeezed her shoulder.

"Love, Poppy." She replied. Poppy span around and looked at her incredulously, before her eyes softened. "He was trying to deal with it on his own." She sighed.

"Still…" She brushed her forehead gently. "…do we know who the target of his unrequited emotions is?" Minerva nodded.

"Hermione Granger." Poppy nodded. "She was the one who reported this to me." Poppy bustled into her office, before returning with a potion.

"Did you ask her whether the feelings were returned?" Poppy asked softly, while feeding an unconscious Harry the potion.

"I did. And they are. It took her a while to sift through her mind, but she got there." Poppy nodded and put her hands on her hips.

"Well, Minerva, could you tell her to come to the hospital wing after lunch? Mr Potter will be awake by then." She nodded.

"Very well. I'll see you later on today, Poppy."

* * *

At lunch time that day, Hermione tentatively opened the door into the hospital wing, immediately noticing the privacy curtain around someone's bed. She had a strong feeling it was Harry's. After a moment, Madam Pomfrey came out of her office and smiled softly at her.

"Good afternoon Ms Granger." She said quietly. Hermione smiled.

"Hello Madam Pomfrey." She turned her eyes to the concealed bed. "Is he ok?" The nurse sighed.

"No, he is not. His magic is causing him to feel like this. I can only do so much. If he doesn't resolve his problems, his body will continue to deteriorate." Hermione gasped.

"W-will he…die?" She whispered. Pomfrey sighed.

"It is…a possibility." Tears began to pour down her face.

"Can I see him?" The nurse smiled.

"Yes, you may." With a flick of her wand, she screen was vanished, revealing a sleeping Harry.

His magic, fighting with the potions Madam Pomfrey was giving him, made him look even worse than he had previously. His face was covered with sheen of cold sweat; his face was contorted in a look of intense discomfort; the bags were still present beneath his eyes; and his breathing was ragged and sounded painful.

With a quick 'Ennervate', Harry's eyes shot open and he coughed violently. Hermione's heart broke as she watched him like this, knowing it was her that had caused it. He looked around groggily, before his eyes settled on Hermione. They widened slightly, before he turned away, closing them as he did.

"Please go away Hermione." He asked softly.

Pomfrey glanced at Hermione before heading back into her office, closing the door with a click. She moved to the chair by his bed and placed a hand on his arm. It was cold; very cold. Her heart tore apart inside as she watched him.

"Harry?" She whispered. He didn't move. "Please Harry." She pleaded. With a sigh, he turned his face toward her and met her eyes.

"Hello Hermione." He said quietly. He could see the pain on her face. "What can I do for you?" She sniffed slightly and smiled weakly.

"I came to speak with you." He nodded. "Harry…I…I was wrong." He didn't move. "I…I was just so surprised by what you said. I wasn't sure. I convinced myself for so long, that you were only my friend, I…I panicked." Tears poured down her face. "I didn't think. But, seeing you like this, because of me, I started to think properly, look into how I truly feel." She put her hand on his cheek. "I have feelings for you too." She whispered. A tear streaked down his face, before he turned away.

"You're just saying that. You think by saying what I want to hear I'll just get better." He turned back to face her. "Well I won't. I refuse. I refuse to listen to you lie to me." She panicked. He didn't believe the truth.

"Harry, please believe me, I'm not lying to you! I've never lied to you!" She cried. His emotionless mask began to crack.

"What about when I told you my feelings? What was that? Was that not a lie?! 'I see you more as a brother', was that not a lie?!" He yelled, before descending into a coughing fit. She tried to help him but he slapped her hand away. "I don't need help! I can get through this without the other students, without the staff, without Ron and without _you_." He tried to lift himself out of the bed, but was held there by Hermione. In his weakened state, he could not push her off. "Let me go." He growled.

"No. I won't." She replied firmly. "You are going to listen to me, dammit!" Harry blinked. He had never heard her swear before. She released her hold on him and instead rubbed his arm softly, trying to reassure him.

"I didn't lie. I didn't know how I felt. You just…sprung it on me and I didn't know how to feel. My mind panicked and I replied. I didn't know you felt like that!" She cried. "What did you expect me to say?!" Tears poured down his face.

"'Give me some time'." He answered. "I thought you'd want to think about it. But…when you threw out that reply straight away…I thought I'd made a mistake." She blinked at him. Why hadn't she asked to think about it?

"I…I'm sorry Harry. I panicked. I had no idea and my mind panicked." She began to cry into her hands. After a moment, a hand brushed against her hair softly. She looked up and saw him smiling.

"Please don't cry. I hate to see you cry." He cupped her cheek softly and she leant into his hand. "I…I tried to get over it. I tried to accept it, but I couldn't. My mind wouldn't let me. Merlin knows I tried, but I just couldn't." She held his hand and smiled.

"Don't worry. Now you won't have to." With that comment, she leant forwards and kissed him softly, their hands getting caught in the other's hair. As they broke apart, he held her cheek and cried softly.

"I'm sorry Hermio…" She interrupted him with a finger on his lips.

"Don't apologise." She said softly.

With a nod and a smile, he sat up and pulled her into a hug. As they embraced, Madam Pomfrey watched them with a soft smile on her face. They had resolved their emotions, with a happy outcome.

* * *

There we are!

A bit of fluff for those who like fluff! I started writing this when I was thinking about the affects magic could have on the body. If magic is emotion based, then it stands to reason that if you repress emotions, then it should affect your body. That was what this story was about!

I hope you enjoyed!

**This is the Quill, signing off!**


	11. Chapter 11

**The Quill's Notebook**

Hello my faithful readers!

Now, this story came about after reading other fictions with a werewolf or lycan Harry. I decided to have a bash at it and this was the result. I was going to post it, but it annoyed me and never seemed...right. So it stayed hidden in my notebook.

Anyway, I hope you enjoy: Wolf Harry

* * *

**Chapter One: Wolf Harry**

"Silencio!" cried Hermione, the man's voice extinguished. He continued to mouth through the hole in his mask, but no sound came out. He was thrust aside by his fellow Death Eater.

"Petrificus Totalus!" shouted Harry, as the second Death Eater raised his wand.

His arms and legs snapped together, falling face down on to the rug at Harry's feet, stiff as a board and unable to move. Hermione turned to him and smiled.

"Well done, Ha-"

But the Death Eater Hermione had just struck dumb made a sudden slashing movement with his wand; a streak of what looked like purple flame passed right across Hermione's chest. She gave a tiny 'Oh!' as though of surprise and crumpled on to the floor, where she lay motionless.

"HERMIONE!" He bellowed.

As he watched his best friend fall, he ran toward her, collapsing by her side as she lay prone on the floor. As he held her cold, unmoving hand in shock, Harry's eyes darkened and he gritted his teeth. His breathing became laboured and his hand clenched shut, drawing blood as his nails cut into the palm.

Before he could move, Neville had punched the silenced death eater, knocking him to the floor, before kicking his wand across the room. Satisfied he wasn't going to be a problem, he turned to Harry, who was crouched beside Hermione.

"H'awwy?" He asked tentatively, his nose still broken and bleeding. He could see his friend shaking uncontrollably. "H'awwy; are you aw'ight?" He took a step forward before Harry growled menacingly.

"Neville…" He began, battling with his voice, "…go…now! Take…Hermione and go…" He hesitated and stared at the crouched wizard.

"H'awwy, I don' under…" Before he could finish, Harry's back arched painfully, and he roared like a beast.

"Go…NOW!" His head shot around to stare at Neville, who froze in fear.

Harry's eyes were aglow, an eerie green and his face was bright red with exertion. More worryingly, however, were the sharpened fangs which were bared at him.

"O-ok H'awwy." He pulled out his wand; he fixed his nose and levitated Hermione out of the room.

With the space now empty, he doubled over in pain, screaming as every nerve and muscle in his body seared with unbearable pain. As his scream ended, it devolved into an inhuman roar which echoed down the corridors of the ministry.

Pushing himself off the floor, he tried to get to his feet and shuffled toward the door. But before he could leave, a noise came from behind which made him freeze. Turning around slowly, he stared at the terrified face of the death eater that cursed Hermione. As recognition set in, he bared his sharpened fangs at the wizard, who whimpered (silently) in fear.

His anger at the wizard who had possibly killed his best friend took control of his mind and he stopped trying to halt whatever was happening. Allowing it to take over, his body began to morph and change, into a towering beast.

The death eater's eyes widened as the shadow cast by the 'Boy-Who-Lived' grew and enveloped him completely. His jaw began to shake uncontrollably and tears poured down his face as he watched a large set of claws descend from his fingers.

In sheer panic, he lost control of his magical core, casting his first bit of accidental magic since Hogwarts, nullifying the silencing spell cast on him by the mudblood. Before he could make a move, however, the beast pounced on him.

His agonising screams filled the corridors of the ministry for a short time, before it fell silent. A few seconds later, a large creature stepped out of the room; its face covered in blood and sniffed the air. Standing on its hind legs, it let out a bloodcurdling wolf-like howl, before bounding down the corridor after the wizard and witch.

* * *

Neville tore down the corridors of the ministry, levitating Hermione as he went. As he ran, he heard a terrified scream fill the halls behind him, followed by a chilling howl. He yelped and picked up the pace, running faster than he ever had in his life.

Hearing spell fire ahead, he soon came across Luna, Ginny and Ron, defending against several death eaters. As he arrived, Luna's face lit up and Ginny smiled.

"Neville, it's good to see you!" Ginny sighed in relief. Her eyes flitted to the prone form of Hermione and her smile faded. "What's wrong with Hermione?" She asked silently. Neville frowned and swallowed.

"She was hit by a purple curse…I don't know what it was." He said worriedly. Luna crawled over and scanned Hermione with her wand.

"She's stable, for now. I don't know what the spell is, but it isn't having any lingering effects." She said, to the relief of the pair. Suddenly realising something, she turned to the wizard and frowned.

"Neville, where is Harry?" She asked. He whimpered and mumbled something unintelligible. Before she could ask him to repeat, a menacing howl rang through the battlefield, causing them all, including the death eaters, to shiver. "N-neville?" She asked.

"I-I'm not sure…but I think t-that's him." He said, gesturing in the direction the noise came from. Ginny and Luna looked at him wide-eyed, while Ron continued to babble incoherently.

"What do you mean that's him?" Luna whispered. Neville explained what had happened before and the two began to panic.

"Do you think he will be dangerous?" Ginny asked nervously.

"If he told Neville to leave, I very much think so." Luna answered. "We need to go." Before they could move however, the sound of heavy running echoed down the corridor.

"It's too late!" Neville cried. "That's him now! I could hear him chasing me down the corridor." As the last word passed his lips, a large shadow loomed nearby.

The beast was huge; at least as tall as Hagrid and twice as hairy. It was clearly a wolf of some sort, but not a magical werewolf.

Werewolves were typically sickly looking creatures, with long, thin appendages and bodies, and with very little hair. This beast looked more like an oversized non-magical Grey Wolf, covered with a thick coat of black fur. Its legs looked muscular and powerful, tipped with a set of large, deadly looking claws. Its eyes were emerald green and shone sinisterly in the darkness.

As it came into the light of the room, they could see blood dripping from the creatures muzzle and teeth. The three children gasped as the beast turned to face them, staring intently. Before it could move, a spell struck its side, fired by the death eaters in a blind panic. Forgetting about the children, it snarled before launching itself on the wizards.

In mid-leap, the wolf took down a death eater before he could finish an incantation and tore out his throat in a single, deft movement. Jumping nimbly onto the next enemy, it swiped his face with its paw, dislodging the mask and removing a good portion of his facial features in the process.

Realising it would be foolish to stay and fight this monster, the third death eater turned-tail and ran, dropping his wand in pure terror. Before he could escape, the wolf closed the gap and clamped its jaws on his leg, throwing him back into the room.

Towering over the death eater, the wolf broke his neck with its jaws, throwing the remains into one of the walls. As its bloodlust began to fade, it picked up the four scents it had noticed when it had entered this room.

Stalking back to where they were hidden, it stared at the three intently, the fourth having been rendered unconscious and began sniffing the air closely. Moving onto all fours, it proceeded to sniff each of them in turn.

The wolf's human mind began to re-engage, recovering from the intense anger and savagery, recognising the four children. As it confirmed who they were, the wolf's inspection finally settled upon Hermione's unconscious form. Flashes of seeing his friend fall appeared in his mind, before letting out a mournful howl. Moving toward the beast, Neville swallowed in fear before speaking.

"H-harry?" The beast looked at him, tears forming in its green eyes. "Hermione's ok, Harry, she's alright. She's only unconscious, she'll be fine." The wolf's eyes lit up and he let out a joyful howl in celebration.

In a swift movement, he gave Neville a slobbery lick as a thank you. Ginny and Luna laughed as said wizard wiped his face, before joining in himself. After a while, Luna began to speak.

"Harry, why are you like this?" The wolf scratched his head with a paw looked confused, or as confused as a wolf can look. "Can you not change back?" He whined slightly and bowed his head. She smiled and scratched his head in a reassuring manner. "Don't worry Harry; we'll find a way to put you back the way you were." He barked happily.

All of a sudden, the wolf's ears stood on end and he listened intently. He let out a soft growl before looking at them pointedly. He got up and gestured toward the door. Neville frowned and stood up.

"What's going on Harry? What can you hear?" The wolf let out an exasperated bark and paced back and forth. Suddenly, his eyes lit up in realisation and he extended a single finger, scraping lines in the floor with his claw.

Catching on, Neville moved behind him to read what had been written. There was only one word written in the wooden floor: 'Order'. Neville's eyes widened and he shouted in celebration, which were shared by Ginny and Luna. Standing by Hermione, Neville cast a levitation spell and turned to his friends.

"Come on guys; we need to find the Order." Ginny and Luna nodded. Nudging Neville pointedly, the beast bounded off down the corridor, heading toward the sounds of spell fire he could hear in the distance.

* * *

In a round room, holding an ancient free standing archway, the members of the Order of the Phoenix were duelling with Voldemort's minions. The space was alive with the crack, whizz and flash of spell fire.

In the centre of it all, Sirius Orion Black stood duelling with his cousin, the deranged Bellatrix Lestrange, around the plinth. Sending spells back and forth, the two evenly matched, Sirius laughed in delight as he taunted the insane witch.

"Come on, you can do better than that!" he yelled, his voice echoing around the cavernous room.

With a loud scream, Bellatrix sent a red spell toward the flippant wizard. His eyes widened as the spell raced toward him, unable to defend himself against it. It impacted against his chest, sending him flying backwards toward the arch.

Before he could complete his descent, a large black shape bounded across the room, catching the wizard and pushed him to one-side; away from the arch. The duelling stopped for a moment, as they stared at the beast now present in the room with them.

While the wolf did not understand what the arch was, it made its fur stand up on end and had an evil aura. He did not want his godfather falling through it.

While Sirius recovered, the wolf turned its attention to the witch who had sent the spell at him. Growling menacingly, he slowly advanced on the witch. In a panic, she cast a flurry of spells, all of which were deflected from its powerful hide.

"Stay back, beast!" She screamed.

With a final roar, the wolf pounced, grabbing her wand hand with his powerful jaws and biting down – hard. The witch howled in pain, as her arm was mauled by the beast. Releasing her ruined arm, he struck her with his paw, sending her across the room and into the wall, where she lay, unmoving.

Having seen the powerful and demented Bellatrix felled by this wolf, a number of the death eaters turned their attention to it, trying to wound the beast. With a howl, the monster leaped into combat, felling masked death eater after masked death eater.

As it fought, the fighting around the wolf was dying, the various death eaters being stunned and restrained by the Order. As the final death eater fell and the room became silent, the various witches and wizards aimed their wands at the wolf. Feeling slightly betrayed, the wolf let out a sad howl and sat down.

Sirius, having recovered from behind thrown across the room, took a tentative step toward the wolf, which turned to look at him. Almost instantly, the wolf gave a happy yip and proceeded to lick his face. What was initially panic, became confusion as he realised the wolf was not trying to hurt him. Turning to Remus, he spoke.

"Mooney; can you tell who this is?" He asked, ridding himself of the wolf slobber. However, said wizard was frozen, staring at the wolf with a pale face. "Well? Who is it?" Remus came out of his shock and swallowed.

"Padfoot… the wolf is Harry." Sirius span around and stared at the wolf, which let out a happy bark.

"Pup?" He asked, his voice barely a whisper. The wolf barked as a response. "You…you're a werewolf?" The wolf shook its head. "But…then what are you?" He asked.

The wolf gave a confused whine and looked at Albus. Said wizard came out of his shock and took a step toward the beast, reaching out and stroking his fur.

"I believe…that Mr Potter is a 'Lycan'." They all looked confused, except Remus who looked questioningly at Dumbledore.

"But Albus, I thought Lycan's were myths?" Remus asked. Albus looked at him and smiled.

"As did I Remus, but Harry here fits everything myths tell us about these beings. He does not look like a werewolf, but rather an oversized non-magical wolf. I would say he could be an animagus, but it is not possible to change into your form accidentally. It takes years of work to even achieve a small change…unless Mr Potter has been working on his animagus transformation without anyone knowing?" The wolf shook his head. "Well then, I am at a loss to explain. Never the less, we should get him back to Hogwarts as soon as possible and let Madam Pomfrey have a look..." Before he could finish, the wolf began to growl menacingly. It looked at Albus and gestured toward the atrium.

"Mr Potter, are you trying to tell me something?" Nodding in response, the wolf brought a single claw down on the stone floor, marking the letters 'LV'. Dumbledore's eyes widened and he turned to the other Order members.

"Apparently, Voldemort is going to be making an appearance tonight." He turned to the wolf and patted him in gratitude. "Thank you for warning me Harry." The wolf nodded and the aged wizard ran off to confront the wizard. The wolf stared after him intently, whining slightly. Sirius read him in an instant.

"Harry, you've done beautifully; let Dumbledore deal with Voldemort for now. Until we find a way to change you back, you won't be able to help much." The wolf gave a final whine before nodding.

Just as they were finishing, Neville, Luna and Ginny ran into the room, followed by Ron and Hermione who were being levitated. Neville sighed in relief as he saw the gathered members of the Order.

"Thank merlin. At least we don't have to fight through all these death eaters." Ginny and Luna laughed slightly, all extremely tired from the evenings events.

As they placed the prone witch and wizard on the ground, the wolf moved over to Hermione, lay down and licked her face gently, whining softly. Luna came over and threw her arms around the beast's neck, hugging him tightly.

"Don't worry Harry; she'll be fine, remember?" He nodded slightly and gave her a small lick, before resuming his vigil by her side.

* * *

Hermione Granger awoke with a groan and a hiss, feeling pain across her chest. Sitting upright, she saw that she was sitting in the hospital wing in relative darkness. There were candles dimly illuminating the room, but only barely.

Looking around, she saw that Ron occupied the bed next to her. He was fast asleep, snoring loudly, his head facing away from her. Ginny was in the bed on the opposite side, while Luna sat in a chair by her bed. As she looked around, however, she could not see Harry.

'Perhaps he wasn't hurt.' She thought logically. She was surprised that he wasn't sitting by her side like Luna was. A brief moment of hurt filtered past, before she pushed it away. As she shifted in her bed, she felt a weight on her legs.

Looking down, she saw a large black shape resting on the end of the bed. Her breath caught in her throat, fearful of what the shape was. Before she could think more on it, the shape shifted, moving slightly to face her. She could see that…whatever it was had green eyes, which glowed in the darkness.

Her hand shaking, she reached out to the black shape, trying to determine what it was. She was surprised when she felt a gentle lick on her fingers and heard a small whine. Reaching for the bedside table, she felt her wand and picked it up.

"Lumos," She said softly.

The gentle light illuminated the black shape, identifying it as some sort of large wolf. Her breath caught in her throat as she noticed a jagged scar on the creature's forehead…a lightning bolt scar.

"Harry?" She whispered. The wolf barked quietly in response and rested its head on her hands. "Harry!" She smiled widely and began to scratch him behind the ears, making him pant happily.

"You never told me you were an animagus." He whined slightly and she frowned. "Wait; _are_ you an animagus?" The beast shook his head. "But…but why are you…" Before she could finish, a voice interrupted.

"I'm afraid Mr Potter has no idea, Ms Granger." She looked up, seeing Madam Pomfrey smiling sadly at her. "We know he isn't a werewolf and he doesn't show any signs of being an animagus." Hermione frowned.

"But how did the change happen?" She asked.

"According to Mr Longbottom, after you were cursed in the ministry, Mr Potter appeared to lose control and begin to change. Young Neville was told to leave, before he or you could come into harm's way if Mr Potter was dangerous." She paused. "We believe that seeing you getting injured forced a response from his magic, putting him in this form." Hermione looked speechless. Madam Pomfrey cast a few diagnostic spells on her before continuing.

"It appears that you are healing quite well, Ms Granger. You should be able to leave tomorrow, although you will need to take some potions to help you fully recover." She nodded. "Now, I suggest you try to sleep…" She looked at Harry. "…both of you." Getting a pair of nods, she retreated to her office.

After staring at her for a moment, wolf-Harry licked her hand again and rested his head back on her legs. She smiled and continued to stroke him behind the ears. After a while, she fell asleep, a large smile plastered on her face.

* * *

There we are!

Well, I hope you enjoyed reading that little segment! This will be the last one for now. There are others, but they aren't good enough to post and aren't finished to a level I would want them read. I hope you enjoyed reading through these few one-shots!

**This is the Quill, signing off!**


	12. Chapter 12

**The Quill's Notebook**

Hello guy's and gal's of the fanfic world!

I apologise for my prolonged absence, but I have been extremely busy with university work and have been hampered with a mind which has, of late, been extremely empty of ideas for fictions! Since I have left all of you in the lurch, so to speak, I have decided to add some more of my smaller stories-which-never-made-it to my notebook to keep you entertained for the time being!

I promise that regular programming will recommence soon, but until then, I offer you something to keep you happy!

I reckon this little story takes place at some point in sixth year, when Ron was being an almighty git (although, that isn't something new)! I hope you enjoy what I've written!

Without further ado, I give you...Brilliant...but scary!

* * *

**Chapter One: Brilliant…but scary**

"Ron, just stop with all the jealousy; me and Hermione weren't doing anything!" Ron snorted in derision. "She was upset and I was comforting her!" He protested.

"Why should I believe that Harry?" He snapped. "God, once again, the Boy Who Lived gets everything, doesn't he?" Harry

"She's not a _thing_ Ron! If you truly cared for her, then you'd understand that!" As the ever present sign of the Weasley anger, the red tips of the ears appeared, Harry tried to calm himself down – he didn't want to fight with his best friend.

"Oh yeah, well, if I shouldn't get her, then why should you?" He spat venomously. As he once again used the word 'get' in conjunction with Hermione, his anger erupted once more.

"I'm not saying I should 'get her' Ron, she's not a thing to be won! I'm saying she has the right to choose! You can't just 'claim her' without even talking to her!" Harry argued. "You can't possibly care about her if you're using her as a way to 'best' me!" Ron growled slightly.

"And why can't I? Why can't I have something you don't have? WHY SHOULD YOU GET EVERYTHING?!" At his point, Harry was blind with rage, and in his anger, he blurted something out he hadn't intended.

"BECAUSE I LOVE HER!" He roared. Ron was silent, his mouth agape. "Because I love her, Ron. Because she is the single most important person to me, in this world. Because I love her with every ounce of my being." He panted slightly, his anger draining away. "That's why Ron. That's why." He whispered.

Just as it looked like he was going to reply, he looked past Harry, his face turning white and his expression into fear. Harry swallowed slightly, as the full weight of what he had just said settled, and he realised that only one person could make Ron react like that. Taking a deep breath, he slowly turned to see the one person he didn't want to see.

"Hermione…" He whispered.

The look on her face betrayed what had, at one point, been an expression of pure anger, but had evolved into a look of shock. Tears fell down her cheeks as she stared at Harry. Paling like Ron had before him; he took a step back, before averting his eyes.

"I…I need to go…I've got…work I need to finish…" He mumbled, not meeting either of their eyes.

With his stumbling excuse said, he turned tail and walked calmly out of the room, careful not to disturb the deceptively peaceful equilibrium that had formed in the space. As soon as he was outside the door, his walk turned into a run. His mind was racing.

'Oh God,' he thought in horror, 'what have I done? How much did she hear? Oh merlin, she was probably there for the whole conversation.' He panicked. 'What am I going to do? How will I face her again?'

"Jesus Christ…" he murmured in anguish.

His best kept secret had been his feelings for Hermione. He'd sat on them for years, but now, in a single anger driven confession, it had all come out. To be fair, his mind argued, how was he supposed to know that she'd be there? It was one of those uncontrollable things.

I mean, who studies their surroundings when they are having a heated argument? He'd been focusing entirely on Ron…

Ron.

Oh bugger, he was probably getting a good telling off by an irate Hermione. While Harry had begun the argument for the soul purpose of defending her, he knew she didn't need it. To quote his soon-to-be-killed-by-a-furious-Hermione best friend: "_You're a little scary sometimes, you know that? Brilliant...but scary_."

With the thought that Ron was probably getting hexed three ways from Sunday by Hermione, he laughed slightly and slowed his running. Leaning against a wall, he tried to get his breath back, steadying his inhalations. As he did so, however, a voice made his breathing stop.

"Harry." A familiar feminine voice intoned.

With an anxiety driven swallow, he about faced to see a stony faced Hermione. He gave her a weak smile and tried to act nonchalant. Drawing his hand through his hair, he laughed, only for it to come out extremely nervous.

"H-hello Hermione." He said tiredly.

His fight or flight response was telling him to get the hell out of there as quick as possible, but Hermione seemed to sense his thoughts and drew her wand, pointing it at him.

"Don't you even think about it." She said sweetly, but with an underlying danger behind her words. He grinned weakly.

"I wouldn't dream of it." He replied. Trying to buy some time, he asked her a question. "So, how did you find me?" With a smile, she held up the marauder's map. With a horror filled expression, he realised that there was nowhere in the castle he could hide.

"I love this piece of parchment, don't you?" He nodded, resigned to his fate.

"Yeah…" he sighed "…so, how much did you hear?" He asked. Her face remained stoic.

"A good portion of it; enough to know why you were arguing." He sighed.

"Look, I'm sorry Hermione. I know you can look after yourself, but the way Ron was talking about you, really got me annoyed." She took a step closer and he continued rambling. "I mean, he was talking about you like an object, something to be won and…" anything else was stopped by her finger on his lips.

"Harry, I really don't care about that. I've already hexed him sideways for his comments about me." He swallowed slightly as she took a step closer, pressing up against him. "What I'm interested in, is the last thing you said before you left…" He tried to stall for time.

"What, that I have work to do?" He answered, smiling weakly.

"No." She was extremely close to him now, and he stiffened, worrying about what she was going to do. "That other thing…about your feelings…toward me." His mind exploded into panic, so he began to apologise.

"Hermione, I'm sorry, I…" anything else he was going to say was stifled, as Hermione pressed her lips to his, pulling him down to reach. His eyes widened in shock, before he began to return the kiss as enthusiastically as she.

After a few minutes of passionate kissing, she pulled away and looked up at him, her brown eyes sparkling with happiness and warmth.

"I love you too." She whispered. A wide smile grew across his face and he laughed manically, before letting out a long, relieved sigh.

"Thank god." And with that, he collapsed to the floor in a dead faint.

"Ennervate," Her melodious voice intoned.

He groaned uncomfortably, as the pain from the fall caught up with him. His eyes opened to see hers looking at him with an amused smile on her face. He rubbed his head and looked around.

"What…what happened?" He asked groggily. She giggled in response.

"You…you fainted!" She answered amidst giggles. He huffed slightly.

"I did not faint!" He protested, which made her laugh increase. 'Boy, did she have a beautiful laugh…' he thought.

"Ok, fine, you _passed out_." She said with a smile.

With a bit of a grumble, his mind began to process what had been said just before he…_passed out_. It was then his thoughts caught up with her revelation.

"Wait…you _love _me?" He asked unbelieving. She nodded with a smile.

His wide smile returned and his arms went around her neck in a hug. She returned it, just as warmly, and the pair sat side by side on the floor, holding each other. After a minute, he pulled back and studied her face, before replying.

"You don't realise how amazingly happy you've just made me feel." He whispered. She smiled and gave him a small kiss.

"I think I have some idea." She replied softly.

After pulling himself up, he offered her a hand and the pair walked back to the common room. As they walked through the portrait hole, they saw a large number of people gathered around an unusual and oddly placed pig. It had red hair, freckles and its neck was a adorned with a sign reading: 'Chauvinist Pig'. After taking one look, Harry burst into laughter and smiled lovingly at Hermione.

"He was right you know." She looked at him, confused. "You're brilliant...but scary." She laughed in response and leaned her head on his shoulder.

* * *

Bit of a soppy, romantic one, that one, and I hope you enjoyed it! It was just a little idea which popped into my mind which I scrawled down, before realising I had no idea what to do with it!

Thank you for reading, and I hope you continue!

**This is the Quill, signing off!**


	13. Chapter 13

**The Quill's Notebook**

Hello my faithful readers!

This story was a recent idea, while I was attempting to re-write Harry Potter and the Rise of Charon! I thought that I would re-work it and change how Harry became dark, but I could never get it to read right!

Anyway, I hope you enjoy this little story!

And without further ado, I give you...Dark Harry!

* * *

**Chapter One: Dark Harry**

It was at that moment, with Harry's consciousness at its weakest, that something rose up from the deepest, darkest reaches of his mind.

As he walked, a feeling of intense cold smothered his body, causing him to shiver. He span around, searching the corridor for…whatever was causing the cold. The passage was empty and silent. He stared for a moment, with an unnerving feeling of being watched pervading his thoughts, before trying to get back to the common room as quickly as possible.

The feeling did not leave him. His pace increased, hoping to outrun what was following him while a feeling of dread pierced his thoughts.

As he moved, what was now a light jog, he started seeing black shadows in his periphery vision, coursing up the stone walls, billowing clouds spreading like ink through water, slowly moving into his line of sight…

…Harry stopped again, drawing his wand and turning to face the walls, only to see…

…nothing. The walls looked as they always did, the torches burning merrily in their sconces, casting a warming glow.

He began to shake slightly, an intense feeling of paranoia making him view everything with suspicion. 'Is this really happening,' he thought nervously, 'or am I imagining all of this? Am I going insane?' He was about to dismiss that thought, before a voice penetrated his musings.

"Potter?" He spun around to face the voice, coming face to face with a prefect. The girl stared at him for a moment, concernedly. "Are you alright?"

Harry looked back to the walls, searching for what he had seen but failed. Turning back to face the prefect, he smiled at her and laughed softly, one that was filled with a mixture of fear, anxiety, confusion and a little mania.

"Yes, yes, I'm perfectly fine," he replied, his voice emotionally strained, "thank you for asking though." He gave her another small smile, before sheathing his wand. "Have a nice evening." She nodded, unsurely, before continuing with her rounds.

"Alright. Have a nice evening." She replied.

Harry watched her go for a moment, before continuing his own journey back to the Gryffindor common room. She hadn't been gone for a minute before the stifling sensations returned, clouding his mind. He stopped and collapsed against a wall, using his weight to keep himself standing.

Clutching his head, he grasped for the door handle of a nearby classroom and stumbled into the space. Seeing a chair, he fell into it and tried to clear his mind. As he looked around, the familiar black shadows grew from the walls, forming small puddles of a black, oily substance which screamed dark magic.

Harry screwed his eyes tightly shut and clasped his head tightly, rocking slightly backwards and forwards, whimpering from the sensory overload.

"No, no, this can't be real, no, no…" he mumbled incoherently. While he tried to force the images to stop, a single voice broke through his mental fog.

"_**Oh, Harry; this is perfectly real**_." A voice replied silkily.

Harry's eyes shot open and he searched the room frantically. The black pools from moments before had vanished, leaving the room much as it was before. The owner of the voice could not be seen.

"_**Ah, just because you can't see me, doesn't mean I'm not here**_." The voice replied, a sneer present in his tone.

With that, the shadows re-emerged, steadily creeping across the floor toward him. Harry started breathing heavily, frantically looking around for an escape route. The darkness had spread over the door and most of the floor.

As it approached, he pulled his legs up and hugged them fearfully to his chest. Tears poured down his face as his worst fear surrounded him, more terrifying than any nightmare. Harry once more closed his eyes in panic.

"_**Aww, is little Harry afraid of the dark**_?" It taunted in the playful tone used by parents toward their infant children. But this was anything but playful.

"_**I know about you, Harry James Potter. I know why you can't face the dark**_." He felt his surroundings change so he opened his eyes, only to see the oppressive figure of Vernon Dursley standing over him.

"_So freak, you think you can steal food from the kitchen – from me?!_" He roared. "_Seems like I have to teach you another lesson._" He spat.

Harry felt himself being dragged to his feet and knew immediately what was coming. For the next few minutes, he was beaten viciously, the pain searing across his body. But that wasn't the worst bit.

After he was done, he felt himself being dragged out of the room…and towards the place which was the birthplace of his worst fear. Becoming more aware after the beating, he realised where he was being taken.

"No, no, please Uncle! Please don't put me in there!" He cried in terror. In response, Vernon smiled evilly and laughed.

"_Stop that shouting freak! Perhaps this will teach you not to steal!_" He snarled.

Regardless of his Uncle's order, he continued to beg and plead with his relative, hoping for a reprieve. There never was. Despite his thrashing, he was thrown to the ground outside the small wooden door of the cupboard under the stairs. As it was opened and he saw the swirling dark space before him, he felt like he was about to be thrown into the waiting mouth of a horrific beast.

"No! NO, PLEASE!" He screamed, desperately trying to move himself away from the black void. He felt himself being pushed forward, regardless of his cries. "NOOOO!" He bellowed, just as the door was slammed shut and darkness surrounded him.

At this point, Harry's mind was crippled with absolute fear, just what the voice wanted. It watched on, smiling cruelly as it saw the piteous wreck before it. However, deep inside his mind, a single voice penetrated the fear and despair that Harry was drowning in, like a light through a storm.

'This isn't real…' the crushing fear lessened and he could breathe once more '…this isn't real…' his mind fought for control '…THIS ISN'T REAL!'

With that, his eyes opened. He was lying curled up on the floor of the classroom on a small patch of unaffected ground. The black substance was all around him, dripping from the walls, the furniture, the roof…but the small patch occupied by him remained untouched.

"_**No, no, NO**_!" The voice screamed. "_**How are you resisting me?! You were weak, unprotected…it should have been easy**_!" The voice cried.

As the fog made from his worst fear began to ease and his conscious mind fully engaged once more, a deep anger rose up inside of Harry.

"Who are you?!" He roared. "Why the hell are you doing this to me?!" As he waited for a reply, there was nothing but silence. Then the voice replied with venom.

"_**Because, Harry James Potter, you condemned me to the same**_." Harry frowned as he tried to understand the voice's answer.

Just as he was going to question its reply, the black pools began to recede, flowing back to a single puddle. As it did, something began to emerge from it, rising from what would have been beneath the ground, coalescing into…a person?

The pools faded entirely, being drawn into the being before him, who then stepped forward into the moonlight cast from the window. Harry sucked a breath in shock, gaping at him.

He was stood before a doppelgänger of himself. The two Harry's stood face to face, a small patch of ground separating them. Harry searched his twin's face for a moment, before speaking, his voice dry and a bit hoarse.

"Who are you?" He rasped. His twin stared for a moment, before smirking.

"_**I'm you…if that wasn't obvious enough**_." He answered. Recovering from his shock, he sighed slightly in response to the blatant sarcasm and pressed his question.

"Well clearly." He replied, rolling his eyes. "So if we're both Harry and I'm from here, then where are you from?" His twin smiled.

"_**From inside your mind**_." Harry nodded thoughtfully.

"So you are part of my consciousness?" He questioned. His twin's face darkened, scowling angrily.

"_**I was, until you saw fit to remove me**_." He snarled. Harry took a step back at the sudden hostility, before a sense of guilt washed over him, while he didn't know why.

"I…I don't understand." He said nonplussed. "How did I 'remove' you?" He asked. His twin's scowl softened, as he saw the sincere confusion on his face.

"_**You don't know**_?" He asked incredulously to which Harry shook his head. "_**All this time I thought it was a conscious effort…but you didn't know**_." He sighed before looking back up at him. Making a decision, he held out his hand for Harry.

"_**Come with me**_." Harry eyed his doppelgänger's hand with unconcealed suspicion, before tentatively gripping it.

As he did, they disappeared in a flash of white. Much like the sensation of travelling through a portkey, Harry felt like he was being forced through a rubber tube which was much too small for him. When they arrived, however, he did not feel the typical sickly feeling he usually felt when using a portkey, nor did he fall over. Taking in his surroundings, he smiled softly when he was where he was.

"_**Welcome, to your mind**_." His twin said with a smile.

They stood on the grounds of Hogwarts, beneath the towering parapets and buttresses of the ancient fortress. With a curious smile, he turned to his twin.

"Why does my mind look like Hogwarts?" He asked. Twin-Harry shrugged slightly.

"_**That reasoning would only be known to your subconscious. You would have to ask him if you want to know**_." Harry nodded.

Looking back to the castle, he realised that he felt extremely warm, happy and comforted whenever he thought about the castle. It made sense that his subconscious would chose this as the home of his mind.

"_**Come on; I want to show you something**_." His twin said.

With a nod, Harry followed himself through the grand wooden doors into the Entrance Hall, passing the Great Hall was they made their way through the castle. As they travelled deeper and deeper into the fortress, he noticed that their surroundings became darker and darker until finally, his twin stopped outside a classroom door.

"_**Open it**_." Twin-Harry commanded. Frowning slightly, Harry stared at the door suspiciously for a moment.

"Why? What's behind it?" He asked. However, his twin was not forthcoming.

"_**Open it**_." He repeated.

With a sigh, he grasped the handle firmly and opened the door. It creaked slightly as it opened, as did every door at Hogwarts, revealing another dark space.

The first thing Harry noticed was that there were no windows. The space was pitch-black with even the floor obscured to his vision. It looked like he was staring into the empty void of space. He sucked in a breath as he was once more confronted with darkness. His hand tightened on the door handle and he shook in fear. It was then he noticed something inside the room, right in the centre…

…a door. But not just any door…

…the cupboard-under-the-stairs.

Harry immediately moved to back out of the room, slamming it shut behind him. He breathed heavily; his haggard breaths making his chest rise and fall noticeably. His eyes were scrunched up in fear and the beginnings of tears could be seen at the corners of his eyes.

Twin-Harry looked on unsympathetically. After how long he had been imprisoned, he could not bring himself to care. After calming himself, Harry turned to his counterpart.

"Why did you show me that?" He whispered.

"_**Because that was a construct of your own making, be it intentional or otherwise**_." Twin-Harry replied.

"What? Why on earth would I create _that_?" He gasped. His twin sighed.

"_**You created it as a prison…for me**_." Harry blinked.

"Why?" He asked softly.

"_**When we were younger, about five or six, we began to think more about our treatment at the hands of the Dursleys…the why of things**_." His twin began. "_**We compared our life to that of Dudley and saw the differences…and we were angry. The anger grew, uncontrolled and unchecked, and over the years it became hate**_." He growled softly._** "We began to fantasise about hurting the Dursleys, about being powerful enough to cause them as much pain as they caused us, and took pleasure in it. We began turning dark**_." He paused for a moment, before continuing. "_**But part of us saw the darkness and was afraid…afraid at what we would become. So it tore those dark thoughts out of our consciousness, forcing them into the deepest recesses of our mind. Every time a dark thought emerged, it was imprisoned. As you just saw, there was a room in our mind which held our worst fear…the dark. That became my prison**_." Twin-Harry finally stopped took in his audience's reaction.

Harry stared at his doppelgänger, horrified at the story. Imprisoned in that room for so many years…he shuddered. He could barely tolerate it for a few minutes. Frowning slightly, he looked back up to his twin.

"So…so why did you make me experience that before?" He asked. His twin searched his face for a moment, before sighing.

"_**Because I was trying to break you**_." Harry looked aghast. "_**I wanted to take over. I have been trapped in that room for so long, waiting for the day I could escape and make you pay for trapping me…but you resisted. More than that, you showed me that it was unintentional, that you didn't mean to imprison me in that hell**_." He slumped down against the wall. "_**I don't know what to do. For so many years breaking out of my prison has been my goal. Now, I don't know**_." He sighed.

Harry watched his twin, listening to him speak, thinking about everything that he had just told him. His whole life was a lie. The darkness was a part of him. He had spent his life denying that fact, pushing it to the back of his mind, ignoring it, hoping it would disappear. It clearly hadn't.

His twin's last words had resonated with him though: 'I don't know what to do.' As he looked down on what was the dark version of himself, he made a decision. Holding out his hand, he pulled his twin to his feet.

"Can we go back?" His twin looked confused, not understanding the question. "Can we go back to how we were before I imprisoned you?" Twin-Harry looked astonished.

"_**It is…possible. But are you sure you want to go through with it? If we re-join, what you are right now will change. I will retake the spaces in your mind I was meant to occupy and who you are will change accordingly**_." Harry thought for a moment.

"What sort of changes?" He asked.

"_**I'm not sure. Without the direct influence of me on your mind, parts of you have developed differently. I couldn't say for sure. Furthermore, after being trapped in that room for so long I have…mutated a little bit, become more dark, more evil…this will all change you if we join**_." Harry sighed.

Parts of him were vehemently shouting at him to force the dark back into its prison. It must have been those parts which trapped him in the first place. But the fact of the matter was that his twin was a part of him…like it or not. Denying it would not be healthy. With a firm nod, he had made up his mind.

"Yes, I'm sure I want to go through with it." He replied. "You are a part of me. I cannot deny you nor the changes. They will make me what I was supposed to be, instead of who I have become." His twin smiled and nodded.

"_**Alright Harry**_." He brought his hand up to place on his crown, but hesitated. "_**One more thing; thank you Harry**_." Harry smiled and nodded.

"You're welcome." He replied softly.

With that, Twin-Harry pressed his hand onto the top of Harry's head. With a flash, Harry could feel his mind shifting and changing. It was painful to begin with, parts of his mind resisting the join, but he soon quelled the resistance. From then on, the changes were comforting, even pleasurable.

Finally, as the changes were complete, he fell unconscious and everything went black.

* * *

Down the rabbit hole and back again, just in time for tea! I hope you enjoyed this little story and I dearly hope you continue to read and review! God knows I would be nowhere without my faithful readers!

**This is the Quill, signing off!**


	14. Chapter 14

**The Quill's Notebook**

Hello my friends!

This is another page of my rapidly expanding notebook! I offer this to you as a thank you for being so patient while I get my act together as a writer and start writing my flagship stories again! Anyway, this is another soppy romantic story, with a bit of angst mixed in! Always a good mix!

I hope you enjoy!

Without further ado, I give you...Ron and Hermione hurt Harry (not a very imaginative title, but I couldn't think what to call it)

* * *

**Chapter One: Ron and Hermione hurt Harry**

Harry resisted the urge to sigh tiredly as he walked through the streets of Hogsmeade. Today was another of the weekend visits for Hogwarts students, and another day which he would spend alone.

Since Ron and Hermione had started dating, they had left him in the lurch, never talking to him for long or hanging around as much as they used to. It hurt him, every single time, for two reasons. One, they were his best friends and two, he had feelings for Hermione. Hell, he was certain that he loved her. However, in a remarkable show of loyalty to his friends, he decided to keep himself to himself. They were happy so he wouldn't threaten that.

Instead of staying in the castle on these weekends, he chose to go to the small village and try to enjoy the day on his own. He did all the things he needed to do, such as get writing supplies or a new book, while trying to distract himself.

Most of the time, he would just walk around and admire the scenery. This Hogsmeade visit, after finishing his list of things to do, he decided to walk down toward the Shrieking Shack, for no particular reason. After walking for a few minutes, he was brought out of his musings by a voice from behind.

"Harry!" A feminine voice shouted.

Turning around, he saw Hermione running toward him with a smile on her face. Resisting the urge to turn back around, ignore her and continue, he plastered a fake smile on his face.

"Well, hello there Hermione," He said, trying to keep his voice level. "What're you doing out here?" Her smile faded somewhat as she detected the forced civility.

"I just saw you and decided to say hello." She replied softly. He made an 'o' face, before carrying on walking, her in tow.

"Oh right. Well, why aren't you hanging around with Ron?" He asked, desperately trying to stop his voice sounding bitter. She sighed.

"Well, Ron and I had a bit of a fight." She confessed. He resisted the urge to laugh and say 'serves you right'. "He stormed off in a huff."

"Oh dear. Well, I'm sure he'll come around soon enough." She frowned slightly.

"Harry, what's wrong?" He kept the smile on his face and shook his head.

"Nothing Hermione, absolutely nothing," She put her hand on his shoulder.

"Please don't lie to me Harry. You know you can tell me anything, right? You're my best friend." His anger bubbled up and he scoffed.

"Oh really? My friend, are you?" He said sarcastically. "I thought you'd packed that job in, seeing as though you have barely hung around with me, or even spoken to me in months. In my opinion, that isn't what a friend does." She had the decency to look abashed.

"Oh Harry, I'm sorry we've been ignoring you." She apologised. "It's just…well, Ron and I…" He put up his hand to stop her.

"No, it's fine. I get that you want to spend time with Ron. Really I do. I just thought that five years of friendship would get me treated better than the dirt beneath your shoes. I thought I was worth more than that, you know." She started to get upset.

"You are worth more than that Harry…" She began, before he interrupted her on his tirade.

"Then why do you treat me like a moron?!" He snapped. "I mean, you could at least show me the decency of telling me what you two are sneaking off to do, rather than lie to my face. Or maybe you were just hoping that dopey, old Harry Potter wouldn't notice." Tears started pouring down her face.

"Why are you saying all this, Harry?" She whispered. Harry raked his hand through his hair in frustration.

"Because…because…" he sighed "…because I'm jealous." She blinked in confusion.

"Jealous?" She reiterated. He nodded. "Jealous of what?" He rolled his eyes.

"Isn't it obvious?" She shook her head. "I'm jealous of the fact that despite five years of being your friend, despite comforting you when Ron has been a bastard, despite treating you properly while he treats you like a tool to be used for his own ends, despite supporting your ideals while he calls you 'mental', despite being there whenever you've needed me…Ron won your heart." She gasped and clapped her hands to her mouth.

"Oh Harry," she whispered, "I didn't know." He sighed.

"It doesn't matter. You made your choice. You chose him, and I'm ok with that. I just wish I'd been able to keep my friends." He stared at her for a moment, before turning away. "Go back to Ron, Hermione. I'm certain he'll apologise the moment he sees you." He finished.

With that said, he continued walking, leaving her standing still. After a moment of shock, she realised he was walking away. Running after him, she yelled again.

"Harry," he kept on walking, "Harry stop!" With a heavy sigh, he stopped walking and turned to face her.

"What do you want Hermione?" She stared at him, tears in her eyes.

"Why didn't you say anything?" She whispered.

"Because, despite you two being gits, I care about you." She looked confused. "I want you to be happy. That's all I want, all I've ever wanted. I didn't say anything because it may have broken what you two had. Had you and Ron treated me like a proper friend, we wouldn't have been having this conversation. My feelings for you would be hidden and nothing would change. That was the way it was going to be and I had accepted it." She shook her head.

"Harry, I didn't _know_ you felt that way. From my point of view, there was no choice between you. I didn't see it like that." He shrugged.

"Well, this is all a moot point, anyway. The fact of the matter is that you chose Ron. The fact you never saw me as a choice means that I wouldn't have been a contender." He muttered.

"No Harry, the reason I didn't see you as a choice is because you were my best friend." He looked at her like she was mad.

"Then what the hell is Ron, if not one of your best friends?" He asked incredulously.

"Just a friend, Harry. You seem to think that I didn't see how he treated me. I did. That's why he was never my best friend. You were always so kind, so caring, so understanding…that's why you were my best friend." He stared at her, trying to understand.

"I'm not sure I understand." He said honestly. She sighed.

"I didn't choose you or even think of you as a choice because I didn't want to ruin our friendship Harry. I've never had and probably never will have another friendship like yours in my life." He smiled.

"Well, thank you. I'm glad to be appreciated." He replied. Hermione smiled, seeing him smile again and hugged him tightly. She held it for a moment, before pulling back and looking into his eyes.

"Harry, I never got to choose. But now I want that choice." His eyes widened.

"W-what? But you're with Ron, Hermione!" She shook her head.

"I don't love Ron, Harry. He was a poor substitute for you; he was the only other person to treat me decently." Harry snorted slightly in derision.

"I wouldn't call his treatment of you 'decent' Hermione." She smiled and laughed slightly.

"I suppose you're right. But the fact is that he is the only other person to tolerate me on a long time basis." Harry grimaced sympathetically. "But I want to choose," she wound her arms around the back of his neck, "and I choose you." She closed the distance and kissed him.

Inside, Harry was screaming in happiness and joy. The girl he loved chose him. Wrapping his own arms around her, he kissed her back passionately. They remained locked together for a few minutes before breaking apart and looking at each other breathlessly.

"Wow." They said in tandem, before laughing. With their arms still wrapped around their partner, they leant their foreheads together.

"How are we going to tell Ron?" He asked. She sighed.

"I don't know. We'll just have to tell him the truth." He nodded, but then laughed slightly.

"I think we should prepare ourselves for him not to speak to us in a while." Hermione giggled slightly and leant her head against his shoulder.

* * *

...aaaaand, we're back in the room! I hope you enjoyed that little sojourn into this page of my notebook! I hope you continue to read, review, read some more, review some more, and so on and so forth! Anyway, thank you!

**This is the Quill, signing off!**


	15. Chapter 15

**The Quill's Notebook**

Hello my faithful readers!

This instalment of my notebook is a sort of angsty story with a bit of happiness and fluff mixed in! Not my usual forte, but there we are! I hope you enjoy this and continue to read and review!

Without further ado, I give you...Sisyphean Burden (took me ages to spell that right)!

* * *

**Chapter One: Sisyphean Burden**

The breeze gently brushed past him, rustling his hair and jostling his clothes somewhat. He closed his eyes to feel the wind on his face, his hairs standing up on end, a shiver rushing down his spine.

As the man looked out over the city, he took a deep breath and sighed tiredly. His sigh spoke of his feelings at that time; sadness, anger, a small amount of fear…but one feeling more than any other radiated from him.

Disappointment.

He wasn't disappointed with anyone in particular, more disappointed with himself; of where his actions had taken him. He didn't _blame_ anyone, for his current situation, nor did he intend to. It was entirely a position of his own making…his own _weakness_…his inability to cope.

And so, he found himself sitting, quite comfortably, on the edge of a tall building overlooking the magnificent view of London's skyline. As he looked out over the city, he began to contemplate the various questions that one considers when in this situation: what is my purpose – what is the meaning of life – why does my drink feel so light…

Taking another swig, feeling the last drops drain from his can of Coca Cola, he shook it, confirming that it was indeed empty. Throwing it behind him, he pulled another out of a six-pack and opened it, before taking a long drink. While he did so, his mind wandered once more to his current situation.

It was odd, he thought, that his mind wasn't trying to dissuade him from his current course of action. He wasn't sure _when_ he was going to make a move…just that he was. Nor was he filled with the emotions, the fragility which had driven him up to this rooftop in the first place. He was as calm and collected as could be.

The man closed his eyes and took another deep breath.

He focused on the sounds of the city; the traffic, the voices, the sirens, the helicopters, the generic noises one would associate with any major city. A rogue thought crossed his mind, not really belonging to his train of thought, prompting him to open his eyes and squint in a certain direction. After staring for a moment, he smiled in amusement.

He _could_ see his house from here.

The thought, verbalised in his mind, made him chuckle slightly, a grin working its way across his face. Idly, he wondered why his mind was seemingly wandering so much. He was normally a very focused individual. He chalked it up to what he was about to happen. The realisation of what he was going to do resurfaced in his mind.

He sighed for the third time.

While he mulled over questions like the meaning of life, he did not notice the quiet footsteps of a person approaching from behind. As they got closer, the hairs on the back of his neck stood on end and he sat up straight. He instantly knew who it was, but did not turn around.

The person, who was in fact a woman, stopped behind him for a moment. The man could feel her eyes burning into the back of his head, but he still did not turn around. After a few minutes had passed, she moved beside him and sat next to him on the edge. Nothing was said between them.

The woman admired the skyline, while the original occupant of the roof continued his musings. After a moment, the man finally addressed her.

"I suggest you do what I've done and put a sticking charm on your trousers." He intoned quietly, without turning his head. "Just so you don't slip and fall by accident." She gave him a sideways glance, before doing what he suggested.

"Surely in your case it doesn't matter?" She commented, rather bluntly. He smiled wryly, shaking his head.

"I intend to go by my own hand, not by a misstep, or an act of God." He replied. Leaning back behind himself, he pulled out another can and passed it to her. She took it, opening it with a hiss and took a drink. She looked at him carefully, studying his features.

"You're awfully calm." She observed.

"I was considering that very fact minutes ago." He responded. "I guess it comes with the acceptance of what is going to happen." She frowned.

"What _is_ going to happen?" She asked. The man turned to her and smiled a 'please don't treat me like a moron' smile.

"Please don't. We both know the answer to that question, don't we?" The woman's frown deepened as she continued to study his face.

"Why are you up here at all, though?" She asked. He turned to look at her and gave her a small smile.

"My own weakness." He answered simply. "My inability to come to terms with everything that's happened." Her frown deepened.

"That's not really a reason." She said. "If anything, that's a reason _not _to take this course of action. By realising your weakness, you are admitting that you can't do this alone." She turned to face him. "You _can't_ do this alone." The man smiled serenely before looking back to the skyline before them.

"I suppose….unless of course I simply accept myself as weak; as world weary. Maybe I simply don't want to fight anymore." The woman's eyes hardened with a steely determination.

"That's rubbish and you know it." She snapped. "Do you want to know why it's rubbish?" He did not speak. "Because you are Harry. Not Harry Potter, not the Boy Who Lived, not the Chosen One; just Harry. That's why." He smiled widely.

"I'm glad you think so. At least one of us here has faith." His smile faded and he slumped tiredly. "I'm tired Hermione…just so tired." The woman gave him a small smile and held his hand softly in her own.

"That's because you're trying to take this entire burden on your shoulders. You don't need to do that anymore." She squeezed his hand. "Share your burden Harry. Share it with me. Let me take the strain for a little while." She finished softly.

His chin trembled and his eyes watered. He turned his head skyward, searching the clouds, before drawing his wand.

"_Finite_." He muttered.

A breath caught in her throat. This was what it all came down to. She watched him fearfully, anxious about his choice. After a moment of sitting there, he swung his legs back from dangling over nothing and stood up. He held out his hand to her, which she took in happiness and relief. He smiled at Hermione, before pulling her into a tight hug.

"I'm glad I have you around." She smiled at him curiously. "For all my flaws, for all my weaknesses; you are by far, my greatest strength." Her smile grew to epic proportions and her eyes sparkled with love and warmth.

Harry planted a kiss on the top of her head, hugging her to him closely. As he pulled away, he silently banished the spent cans, picked up the remnants of the six-pack and held Hermione's hand as they walked away from the rooftop. Squeezing her hand gently, he knew he was not alone in his fight any longer.

All of a sudden, his Sisyphean burden didn't seem as impossible to overcome.

* * *

I hope you enjoyed that little story and I hope you continue to read and review my work! I am working on updating my other stories, so if you are waiting for my other work to move on, it will happen soon...I swear!

Anyway, thanks again for reading!

**This is the Quill, signing off!**


	16. Chapter 16

**The Quill's Notebook**

Hello my faithful readers!

This page of my infamous notebook has one of the first attempts I made to expand into writing Doctor Who crossovers! I recently told a reader/reviewer who had been asking me questions about my stories (Gryffindor PairingMatters) that I had planned to expand into writing Sci Fi fanfictions and crossovers with Harry Potter, so I decided to give them an example!

I hope you enjoy this story so far (there was more, but I cut it from this copy because it was unfinished and would make no sense)!**  
**

Without further ado, I give you...The Watch!

* * *

**Chapter One: The Watch**

As they hid in one of the ministry's many rooms, discussing their plan of action, Harry felt an odd tingling in his chest...a warmth which seemed to reverberate throughout his entire body.

Curiously, pulling the chain from beneath his shirt, he looked transfixed at the gold fob watch attached to it.

Harry had owned this watch for as long as he could remember. It had been at his side since the very beginning, visible to no one but him, unless he wanted them to see it. An old, battered time piece, he could never remember ever having opened it before. The lid was stuck, and had been for a very long time.

However, today, something had changed...it seemed as though the watch...had come to life!

As he held it, he could feel it pulsing softly, to a beat of four, akin to something like an alien heartbeat.

...thump thump thump thump, thump thump thump thump, thump thump thump thump...

Ignoring his surroundings, he ran a thumb across the circular ring carvings on its surface. The circles and patterns seemed to move before his eyes and glowed with a power which called to him...singing in his very blood.

As he listened, he was certain he could hear something…whispers, human whispers, coming from the watch.

His eyes were drawn to a catch on the side of the timepiece, one which he had never noticed before. His mind was empty except for the desperate need to open the watch, to release the power inside, to become...whole again. He didn't understand why, but he needed to open it. However, before his thumb could unlock the watch, a distant female voice echoed in his subconscious.

"…find a way out of here. Right Harry? Harry?" With a jerk, he snapped back to his surroundings, realising that they were all staring at him.

"Er, yes, what?" He replied, unsurely, not having heard what they were saying. Hermione stared at him with a hint of…anxiety?

"Harry, are you ok?" He shook his head and smiled, putting the watch back beneath his shirt, which pulsed warmly against his skin.

"Yes. I was just…distracted." Hermione noticed that he had been transfixed with the watch, but didn't call him on it.

"Alright," she jumped back onto her train of thought, "well, I was saying that we need to find a way past the death eaters and find a way out of here." He nodded in agreement.

"Er, yeah…I mean, yes." He answered, his voice betraying his distraction.

As Ron, Neville, Luna and Ginny began to head out of the room; the whispers from the watch grew louder, invading his mind. Harry held a hand to his head and grimaced. '_The whispering_…' he thought; his head foggy and confused '…_it sounds like its…calling me_...' he tried to call on what Occlumency skills he had to try and control his mind '…_why won't it stop_?!' It grew louder in his mind, rising in pitch, until he felt a hand on his arm.

"Harry!" His eyes shot open and he found Hermione looking at him worriedly. "What's wrong, Harry? Why are you grimacing?" She asked softly.

"It's…my head," he forced out through gritted teeth, "all I can hear is this…_incessant_ whispering...and a beat...a beat of four..." he began to tap his fingers on his leg, following a regimented rhythm...a beat of four "...it won't stop, Hermione...why won't it stop?" It started to get louder again, but as it did, he was once more snapped back by Hermione.

"Harry," he bowed his head in pain, so she turned it toward her face, "look at me Harry." He looked at her. "Focus on me. Focus on my voice. It's probably Voldemort trying to get in your head, Harry. Focus on me, focus on my voice...focus on me, and only me." His breathing became steadier and his expression softened. "Is that any better?" She asked. He smiled.

"Yeah…yeah, that's a lot better." She smiled. "Thank you Hermione." She blushed and nodded, before pulling his arm.

"Don't mention it. Now, come on! We need to get out of here!" He nodded determinedly.

* * *

For the next half an hour, they fought a running battle in the department of mysteries, searching for the way back to the main atrium. It seemed like at every turn there were minions of Voldemort waiting for them. Chased by a dozen death eaters, maybe more, they soon, inevitably, ended up trapped in the middle of a corridor with only two exits.

"Damn, they're coming both ways Hermione." Neville reported. "There's no way we're getting past them." She bit her lip in thought.

Harry meanwhile, trying to keep his mind busy and off the voice, also began looking for a way they could avoid their assailants. Rather quickly, he noticed that there was a door very near their position.

"Hermione, look," She and the other students looked at the door, "we can hide in there for the time being. We can wait until they pass us and then make our escape." Seeing no other option, she readily agreed.

"Alright then, let's get in there." She replied.

With the footsteps approaching, they all scrambled into the room and sealed the entrance behind them. Casting a few silencing spells, notice-me-not charms, they hoped that they would continue past, thinking that they'd missed them. However, in case the death eaters tried to get into the room, they positioned themselves in a defensive ring around the door.

As they waited, the whispering began in Harry's mind once more. However, this time it felt oddly reassuring…relaxing…_soothing_. It was like a lullaby from a caring parent, gently calming his fears and anxiety. Reaching his hand back into his shirt, he pulled the watch out again, feeling as it pulsed like never before.

It was then he felt something behind him…something…familiar. Turning around, he faced the interior of the room, staring at what stood there.

In a column of light, illuminating the pitch black room, stood a navy blue police box. The light bounced perfectly from its blue, polished wooden finish, the lamp on top sparkling like a gem. As he stared, he could feel it calling out to him, singing in his very blood. The beat of four grew louder and louder, sounding like the beating of a thousand drums.

The watch wanted him to walk towards it... the watch wanted him to go inside…

Harry began walking toward it, mesmerised by it, following the gentle whispers which pushed him on. He could feel the gentle embrace of the box and the watch wash over him, gently pushing him forward, reassuring him and calming him.

The box felt safe...

The box felt like...home

Turning around, Hermione noticed that Harry had moved. Until this point, she had not seen the box, but now, there it was, standing in a large column of light in the centre of the room. But more importantly, Harry was walking toward it, seemingly in a trance. With wide eyes, she yelled at him.

"No, Harry; don't!" She cried.

However, she was too late. The doors of the box opened and admitted the hypnotised wizard, before closing behind him with a wooden thud. She ran over to it, banging on the door, until she realised it was locked.

"Alohomora." She cast, before rattling the door once more. It remained, unopened. Hearing her frantic efforts, Neville turned around, his eyes widening at the sight of the box.

"Hermione, what's going on? What is that? Where's Harry?" Neville asked, he too noticing for the first time the blue box. Ignoring Neville for the moment, she thumped aggressively on the door.

"HARRY!" Bang, bang, bang. "HARRY!" She cried.

While she stood there, trying to make her way to Harry, a sound like a distant drum roll echoed, while the box began to make a harsh wheezing sound, the light on top of it flashing in time with the noises.

It was then, to her horror that the box began to disappear, right before her eyes. Grabbing onto the sides, she futilely tried to hold the box in place. As it faded away into nothingness, her hands fell through and she stood in shock.

He was gone.

While she tried to get her head around what had happened, the sealed door began to rattle and shake. After they had entered, she had reinforced it to be extremely strong, but even that wouldn't hold up to repeated punishment.

"Hermione, they're going to break through! What do we do?" She opened and closed her mouth wordlessly. "What do we do, Hermione?!" A tear trickled down her face.

"I don't know." She whispered.

Drawing her wand, she re-joined the circle of defence around the doorway and waited for the inevitable death eater incursion. Her hand shook in fear. There was no way they could hold up against all of them. Their only advantage so far had been mobility. Now they were trapped, with nowhere left to go.

"'Ere, that's them; they're in here!" She felt a pang in her heart. They were doomed. She closed her eyes and began muttering under her breath.

"Harry…please come back…please…we need you…_I_ need you." She murmured.

As the door began to splinter and crack, a familiar sound filled up the chamber once more, filling Hermione's heart with hope. Spinning around, she saw the blue box fade back into view with the tired wheezy noise and invisible wind, before settling.

"Somethin's goin' on…hurry up and get this door open!" One death eater shouted.

Uncaring about the imminent danger outside the door, her eyes remained transfixed on the blue box, just like Harry's had, only not for the same reasons. Just then, as the entrance to the room was about to collapse, the doors to the blue box opened.

She squinted slightly as the light from inside the box was blinding. But there he stood; his silhouette standing in front of the glow from the box. There stood Harry Potter. Shielding her eyes, she saw him hold out a hand to her, his visage like that of a God.

"Come with me." He said firmly.

Shakily holding out her own hand, she took his calloused fingers in hers and allowed herself to be led inside. Seeing a way out, Ron, Neville, Ginny and Luna all hurried into the blue box, just as the door collapsed.

The death eaters poured in, wands drawn, only to see the fading sight of an unusual blue box, disappearing from the chamber.

* * *

And there we are! I hope you enjoyed my HP/DW crossover! Please continue to read and review, because if you do, I will be inspired to write faster and write more! It's like magic!

Anyway, thanks again!

**This is the Quill, signing off!**


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